Destiny's Child
by sugarwater
Summary: BA! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs rewrite – Angel doesn’t leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.
1. Chapter 1

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 1 takes place Season 2, Episode 17, "Passion"  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

Jenny sat at her computer desk frantically typing away as she stared at the screen. She had been trying for so long to make things up to Rupert and Buffy and now she finally thought it would be possible. The ritual of restoration was almost completely translated. This was it. This was going to work.

She was so consumed with the ritual that she jumped when she heard the familiar voice behind her. Spinning around and seeing Giles, she instantly turned her attention back to the computer to minimize the window. She couldn't risk him seeing it as she didn't want to get anyone's hopes up and most of all, she wanted it to be a surprise.

"Hey" she said as she turned away from the screen.

"You're working late" Giles said quietly. He was desperate for things to be sorted between the two of them and couldn't resist going to see her before he left for the night.

Jenny watched him inch closer as a smile played on her lips "Special Project".

"Oh" Giles replied as he walked even closer to the desk.

Jenny crossed her legs and eyed him playfully, confident that he wouldn't push her away given the knowledge she had acquired earlier from Buffy. "I spoke to Buffy today"

"Oh, yes?" Giles replied, eager to hear if the two most important women in his life were now on good terms.

Jenny looked down at her desk smiling "She said you missed me" she coolly replied.

Giles was suddenly embarrassed and looked slightly perturbed. "well,uhh, she's a meddlesome girl" he stammered, looking at his feet.

Jenny didn't want to make things more awkward for him and so decided to get back to the job in hand – there would be plenty of time to flirt with Rupert once she had completed the restoration translation. "Rupert…ok I don't want to say anything if I'm wrong but I may have some news. I need to finish up here, could I see you later?" she suggested.

Giles was instantly more hopeful and met her gaze. "Yes, yes…you can stop by my house."

She smiled at his welcome proposition. "Ok"

He got up to leave in a much brighter mood than before. "Good" he replied as he hurriedly left the classroom, already excited about seeing her later.  
Jenny couldn't help but widen her smile as she watched him leave. It was such a relief to finally be on his good side. Everything was really going to be ok. Anxious to finish as soon as possible she turned back to the computer and began typing immediately.

* * *

Giles had been to the store to pick up a bottle of wine for later. He wanted to make her feel as welcome as possible. The only thing left to do before going home was to visit Buffy's house to check how the spell had gone. On his way there he suddenly realised that he had left a book that he needed at the library and decided to quickly double back to the school to pick it up. That way he could even check to see if Jenny had left yet.

As Giles made his way down the hall he was suddenly made aware of the smell of smoke coming from the computer classroom. He turned the corner and ran through the door. As he studied the state of the room - the computer on fire, the smashed printer - he knew that whatever had happened Jenny was in danger. Giles instantly turned and ran out the door calling her name. As he passed the library the noise of a door being ripped open echoed down the corridor. Without thinking he dashed into the library, reached behind the counter and grabbed a bat.

* * *

Jenny was running for her life. She didn't know where to go, no where was safe. If she could just keep running long enough then maybe she would lose him or find help. As she dashed down the corridor she tried pulling the door in front of her open but it was stuck. Looking over her shoulder she saw Angelus getting closer and closer with the look of pure glee in his eyes. She turned back to the door and pulled it with all the strength she had. Suddenly it swung open and she leapt into the hall. Angelus slammed into the door as she closed it shut again. Jenny turned and ran as fast as she could. It wasn't long before she heard the door swing open behind her. She grabbed the janitor's trolley and pushed it in Angelus' direction. Thankfully it bought her some time as the vampire tumbled to the floor. The school teacher hysterically ran up the stairs and didn't think to look back until she had got to the top. Just when she thought she had slowed him down she ran right into him.

Angelus laughed at her, bemused at her feeble attempts to escape him. He clutched her head aggressively and put his fingers on her mouth to silence her.

"Sorry Jenny, this is where you-"  
Right at that moment Giles appeared behind Angelus and violently thrashed his head with the bat. For a moment his grasp of Jenny loosened and she took the opportunity to run. She didn't get very far before Angelus caught her hair and yanked her back, causing her to fall on her knees.

"Let her go!" Giles furiously spat.

Angelus spun around still holding onto Jenny at his side. "Oh goody, it's the watcher. Two for the price of one. And guess what, you get to watch your girl here die!" he sneered.

Giles once again tried to hit Angelus with the bat but before it came into contact with him he grabbed it out of Giles' hand and swung it at him, sending him flying to the other end of the landing.

Angelus began laughing at the sight before him and turned his attention back to Jenny. "Sorry Jenny, I'm going to have to get rid of you quick, watcher boys gonna be way more fun. Hey Watcher, watch this!". With one rapid motion he clutched her by the neck, lifted her up and violently forced her through the window. The glass shattered and the wooden frame snapped as he let her limp body fall to the ground below.

Giles couldn't get to his feet quick enough and witnessed the horrifying event before him as Jenny was brutally forced through the window and dropped to the ground. He called her name as she fell and rushed to the window to see her limp form spread out on the grass below covered in glass and blood.

Angelus began laughing menacingly. "Hope you enjoyed the show Rupert, I know I did. Bad news for you is that its your turn to take the leading role" Angelus reached out to grab Giles but was forced back as he grabbed a cross from his jacket and pushed it into Angelus' face. He cowered away in pain as the smoke filled the air around his head. Growling, he tried to regain his composure. "Now that's cheating. But I guess I got what I came for anyway. Until next time old boy" he taunted as he left the building.

Turning and running in the opposite direction, Giles exited the school and ran around to where Jenny was lying. Luckily she still had a pulse, but a very weak one. He ran inside and called an ambulance and then returned to wait with the woman he loved, begging her to hold on.

* * *

Buffy was relieved that 'the talk' was finally over. As she made her way downstairs Willow heard her footsteps and ran to meet her.

"How did it go?" she asked nervously.

"I'm just glad it's over." Buffy said sighing with relief.

"Well I know the perfect way to take your mind of all this stuff. Want to make brownies?" Willow excitedly asked.

Buffy smiled at her best friend and nodded. "Now that sounds like a plan".

"So was it horrible?" Willow enquired.

"It wasn't too horrible" Buffy reasoned.

As the girls made their way through to the kitchen the phone rang. Buffy doubled back and picked it up. "Hello?"

It was Giles. "Buffy?"

"Giles! Hey, we finished the spe-" she began before he cut her off.

"Jenny…Ms. Calendar…she's in hospital" he told her trying to keep it together.

"What…?" Buffy was confused.

"It was Angel." Giles replied, his voice filled with hatred.

Willow could see the look on Buffy's face as she took the phone away from her ear.

"Buffy?" Willow asked confused. Buffy handed the phone to her friend and backed against the wall.

"Giles?" Willow asked worried about what she was going to hear.

"Willow. Angel tried to kill Jenny. She's in intensive care" Giles repeated.

"Oh my god, no, is she going to be ok?" Willow asked as tears began to form in her eyes. There was silence on the other end of the line. "Umm, we'll get there as soon as we can" she said before hanging up and going to comfort Buffy.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Cordelia, Xander, Buffy and Willow arrived at Sunnydale General. Giles was standing outside Jenny's room watching her through the window.

"Giles!" Willow called as she ran over to the librarian and hugged him. Buffy walked over slowly staring at the floor, she couldn't look at him, she felt guilty that she couldn't have stopped Angel before he did this.

Xander noticed the large bruise on Giles' forehead and motioned towards it. "I'm guessing that was a present from Angel too, huh"

Giles nodded in confirmation.

"So what happened?" Willow asked carefully.

Before he could answer the doctor walked towards the group. "Rupert Giles?"

"Ahh, yes, what can you tell us?" Giles asked hopefully.

The doctor motioned for them to walk inside the room with him. "Well I'm afraid it's not good news. Jennifer has extensive head trauma, numerous fractures in her legs and arms and there was a lot of internal bleeding. The good news is we managed to stabilize her but the chances of her making a recovery are small. We won't know if there's brain damage or not until she wakes up and to be honest I'm not sure if she will."

The group absorbed this as the doctor apologized and left the room.

Giles silently walked to Jenny's bedside and sat down. He took her hand in his and sat with her. Buffy slowly walked to Giles' side. "I'm sorry" she said, her voice cracking with emotion. Giles didn't move or answer. The tension in the room was rife and the Scooby gang felt awkward.

"Do you want us to get you anything? Coffee?" Willow asked gently. Giles remained silent and steadied his gaze on Jenny.

"Well, we'll go get you something anyway" Willow said nervously as the gang began to leave the room.

As Giles sat watching Jenny sleep all he could think about was Angelus and the way he had thrown her through the window. He had taken such pleasure out of doing it. Jenny was as good as dead. She didn't have a chance of surviving this. Only two hours ago she had her whole life in front of her and now she was lying there unconscious, waiting to die. He knew what he had to do. He got up and left the room. One way or another, Angelus would be dust by morning.

* * *

"Maybe we shouldn't go back in just yet…I think he wants to be alone" Willow suggested as the gang were walking back down the corridor to Jenny's room. They had brought back coffee and tea since Giles hadn't told them what he wanted.

"By the sounds of it he's going to have plenty of time to be alone with her. You heard the doctor, she's not going to wake up" Cordelia said bluntly.

As they walked through the door they realized Giles was gone.

"Where did he go? We were only gone 10 minutes" Xander asked.

"Why would he leave without telling us?" Willow asked, uncertain of the situation.

"He's gone." Buffy said quietly, realizing where he was.

"Gone where?" Cordelia interjected

"He'll go to wherever Angel is" Buffy answered.

Willow's eyes widened in understanding "That means the factory right?"

"So Giles is gonna try to kill Angel then" Cordelia stated as it sunk in.

Xander stared at Buffy "Well it's about time somebody did."

"Xander!" Willow shouted, annoyed at her best friend's lack of tact.

Xander continued on anyway "I'm sorry but let's not forget that I hated angel long before you guys jumped on the bandwagon. So I think I deserve a little something for not saying I told you so long before now. And if Giles wants to go after the uh, fiend who tried to murder his girlfriend I say faster pussy cat kill, kill"

Silence filled the room at the end of Xander's speech.

"You're right" Buffy finally spoke up, walking towards the door.

"Thank you" Xander replied.

"There's only one thing wrong with Giles and a revenge scenario" Buffy explained

"What's that" Xander asked confused.

Buffy turned around to face him. "Its gonna get him killed"

* * *

Spike and Drusilla sat listening to Angelus' story at the factory. The boastful vampire was doing more than enough to piss off Spike.

"Are you insane! We're supposed to kill the bitch, not leave gag gifts in the friends' beds." Spike chastised.

Drusilla cuddled her puppy and protested meekly "But, Spike, the bad teacher was going to restore Angel's soul."

"What if she did? If you ask me, I find myself preferring the old Buffy-whipped Angelus. This new, improved one is not playing with a full sack." Spike retorted staring at Angelus. "I love a good slaughter as much as the next bloke, but his little pranks will only leave us with one incredibly brassed-off Slayer!"

Angelus rolled his eyes "Don't worry, roller boy. I've got everything under control."

A moment later the factory was filled with flames. Spike and Drusilla moved away from the table to stay out of the fire. Suddenly a crossbow bolt hit Angelus in the shoulder. As he turned around to see where it came from Giles marched in with his bat, lit the end of it with the flames and began beating Angelus with it.

"Jeez, whatever happened to wooden stakes?" Angelus mumbled between beatings.

Finally Angelus got the upper hand and grabbed Giles by the neck. "All right. You've had your fun. But you know what it's time for now?" Angelus taunted.

Suddenly he was kicked from behind. "My fun" Buffy shouted as she threw him against the staircase.

The fight ensued between Buffy and Angelus while Giles remained slumped on the floor. The flames began to inch closer to his body by the second as Buffy continued fighting Angelus, oblivious to the danger her watcher was in.

Buffy grabbed Angelus and slammed him against the railings, back and forth. The vampire simply laughed. "Are you gonna let your old man just burn?" he taunted.

Buffy looked down below to see Giles surrounded by flames. Angelus threw her over the banister and she ran to save him. Dragging him out of the smoke filled factory, he pushed her away fiercely. "Why did you come here! This wasn't your fight!" Giles hissed.

Giles fell to the ground as Buffy punched him on the jaw. "Are you trying to get yourself killed!" she shouted at him desperately. Falling to her knees she hugged him tightly as tears fell from her eyes. He began to cry in her arms as they sat on the ground comforting each other. Buffy rocked back and forward crying. "You can't leave me. I can't do this alone." She now knew what she had to. Angel was gone. She was ready.

* * *

Willow entered the computer classroom the next day and addressed the class. "Hi. Principal Snyder asked me to fill in for Ms. Calendar... u-until the new computer science teacher arrives. So I'm just gonna stick to the lesson plan she left."

As the new stand in teacher walked to the front of the desk she put her own books down and accidentally nudged some other things out of the way. As she did this Willow failed to notice the yellow floppy disk fall between the desk and the filing cabinet…

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 2 picks up from the end of 'Killed By Death'  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

It had been a week since the incident with Angel and Miss Calendar and Buffy's life hadn't been getting any easier. Giles was distant and had spent hours at Jenny's bedside, there had been no slayer – watcher training sessions and to top it off she had gotten sick and ended up in hospital. The one positive thing to come out of her recent illness was finding and slaying the demon that had been killing children with the same virus as her.

Buffy brought herself to her feet and looked down at the dead demon before her. She could imagine how terrifying it must have been for her cousin and all the other kids who were killed by this guy.

Xander approached her slowly and looked down in the direction that Buffy was staring in before looking up at her. "Are you ok?" he asked tentatively.

Buffy turned to face him with a smile on her face. "Actually? I think I'm starting to feel better". As the slayer stepped forward her knees buckled underneath her sending her right into the arms of Xander who caught her before she fell.

With her friend supporting her they made their way to the stairs. "He's dead right? I mean I heard something snap" Xander asked nervously.

"That would be his neck" Buffy explained.

"You're not gonna yack on me are ya?" Xander worriedly enquired.

"Sorry Xand, I don't make promises I can't keep" Buffy jokingly replied.

Once they had returned the children to their own ward, they made their way back to Buffy's room where the doctor was waiting for her. "Buffy I have had my security guards looking all over for you after that episode in the hall" the doctor said sternly.

"Oh, About that, I'm real sorry, it must have been the fever I was totally out of it. I just really wanted to go get some air…which I think has done me the world of good, I'm totally ready to go home now" Buffy said as convincingly and charmingly as possible.

"Well, I guess so, but first I need to talk to you about your test results…alone" she eyed Xander as she spoke.

"Sure, I'm just gonna go call Giles. I'll be back in 10 minutes" Xander said as he left the room.

The doctor walked over to the door and shut it before turning around to Buffy who was sitting on the bed. "Buffy when you came in here we took a blood sample from you. It's routine that we check this for various things." She began.

Buffy noticed the note of concern in her voice and sensed that this was something important. "What, what did you find? What's wrong with me?" Buffy asked distraughtly.

"Nothings wrong…but…Buffy, you're pregnant." The doctor said calmly. "I assumed you didn't know since you never mentioned it to us"

Buffy stared at the wall numbly. She could barely take in what was being said to her. That word was just echoing in her mind, repeating over and over while she tried to process it. Images of the night her and Angel had made love filled her mind as it sunk in. Tears began forming in her eyes as she was suddenly brought back into the room and heard what the doctor was saying.

"Buffy? Are you ok?" the doctor asked with a concerned look on her face.

"No, I mean yeah. I'm ok. I think. But no, I didn't know…." She trailed off once again looking at the wall as her vision blurred and the tears glazed over her eyes.

"Well you should decide as soon as possible what you want to do and then get in touch with us. We can book you in for an appointment" The doctor said as she left the room.

This was impossible. She couldn't be. She had only ever been with Angel and he couldn't have children, he had told her so himself. But it had to be his, it couldn't be anyone else's. What was she going to do? She was the slayer, she wasn't supposed to have children, let alone with a vampire. This was too much. How was she going to tell her mother?

Xander entered the room again and interrupted Buffy's train of thought. "Well Giles says good work, Cordy said eww a couple of times and Willow says get well soon. What did your doctor have to say, anything important?" Xander enquired noticing the redness of her eyes.

Buffy instantly pushed all her thoughts to the back of her mind and smiled up at him. "Oh no it was nothing. I'm just peachy"

"Great! So can I take the Buffster home now?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yup. Can't wait to get out of this place" Buffy replied honestly.

* * *

"OH, oh oh and another bag of cheesy chips!" Xander shouted to Buffy's mom as she was about to leave the room.

Buffy had been back from the hospital for two days now and she was recovering fast. The three friends had been lying on Buffy's bed all day watching TV while Joyce brought them juice and snacks. On hearing Xander's last request she turned around and raised her eyebrow.

"Uhh, you ate the last one" she replied matter-of-factly.

Xander shook his head and tossed the empty bag aside "No, there's another bag hidden behind the raisins."

Joyce sighed inwardly, defeated. "Im on it" she replied with a feigned a smile and left the room.

Xander turned to Buffy and looked insulted "Your mom's tryin' to Bogart the cheesy chips. What's that all about?"

Buffy merely smiled at the amusing exchange between her mother and her best friend. Joyce suddenly returned to the room taking an envelope out of her pocket.

"Oh, Buffy, here. Um, this came in the mail." She said, handing the letter to her daughter.

Buffy flipped it over and read the address on the back smiling "It's from Ryan."

"The boy from the hospital?" her mother queried.

Buffy took out the paper inside and unfolded it. She has holding a picture of herself standing on top of Der Kindestod, its neck split open and blood pouring out.

Joyce smiled "Oh, he drew you a picture….How…nice" she said unconvincingly as she noted the gory detail of the drawing.

"If you're trying to stall me with the chips I won't forget" Xander said smiling.

Joyce walked towards the door once more "Ok, Ok, Coming right up"

"So have you heard from Giles today?" Willow asked her friend.

"He gave me a quick call earlier to see how I was" Buffy said looking troubled.

"How did he sound? Is he holding up?" Willow asked honestly.

"I think so. He's still visiting Miss Calendar on a daily basis." Buffy picked up her juice and sipped it as her thoughts were brought back to the realisation of what she had to do once she was feeling better.

"There's still no change huh" Xander asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, none at all. The chances of her waking up are getting slimmer by the day" Buffy told him, suddenly feeling extremely guilty for what she had failed to stop Angel from doing.

"Poor Giles, I know he's trying to keep happy for us but he's not. It must be eating him up inside. I think he's getting his hopes up that she'll recover" Willow said sadly.

"Well sometimes miracles can happen. We don't know for sure that she won't wake up. She still has a chance even if it is a small one" Buffy said reassuringly while smiling at Willow.

"Where has your mom got to with those cheesy chips!" Xander asked incredulously.

"Is it possible for you to think of something other than your stomach right now?" Buffy mockingly chastised.

"Hey, you want to talk to me? I just need my fuel first" Xander said as he got off the bed and walked out the door.

"Oh and see about my refill while you're at it!" Willow called to him.

The red head turned to her friend who was staring into space. She had been doing a lot of that lately and it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"So, Giles aside, what's up with you?" Willow asked genuinely hoping for a real answer.

Buffy turned to look at her friend and tried to look puzzled. "Huh? Me? Nothings up with me. I'm great. I'm chilling out watching TV with my two best friends and I don't have to go to school…these are good times, Will". Buffy was trying her best to reassure her friend but when it came to Willow she could always tell when Buffy was lying.

"Are you sure? Cos you've been acting really…distant, lately. Is there anything on your mind? Is it Angel?" Willow enquired further.

Buffy desperately wanted to tell her, she hated lying to Willow, but she just couldn't share this info right now. She hadn't really admitted it to herself yet and didn't have a clue how she was going to admit it to her mother.

"No, I'm fine. I know what I have to do." Buffy smiled warmly at Willow hoping that she would believe her. "I'm just still a little bit phased by this whole Miss Calendar thing and I'm still feeling a bit icky is all"

Right now telling her friends about this wasn't an option. There were still so many questions she had to find the answers to. How was this possible? How could a vampire have children? Technically he was dead so what was going on? Was it something mystical? Or prophetic? The only person who could help her with that question would be Giles, but he was probably the last person she could imagine taking it well. He was like a father to her and she wouldn't want to disappoint him. With everything else that was going on she just couldn't face this. And he had too much going on in his life to be bothered by her problems. This could wait. She figured she had a while before she would have to tell people. First she had to sort out Angel. Then she would concentrate on the baby. Besides, right now she really couldn't deal with other people knowing. She needed time to get used to the idea herself.

* * *

Willow was enjoying acting as substitute teacher. Her fears about the class not recognising her authority had been unfounded. They all seemed to respect her and enjoy her lessons.   
"So, for next time read the chapters on information grouping and binary coding." She said walking along the front of the classroom.

Giles looked in from the hallway at the class and observed quietly.

"I bet you'll think coding is pretty cool. I mean, if you find two-digit, multi-stacked conversions and primary number clusters a big hoot." She joked.

The students all laughed and Willow beamed at her success. The bell rang and the class began to file out. As Willow watched them go she noticed Giles standing in the doorway.

"Giles! I made them laugh, did you hear? I did the joke thing!" she gushed.

"Yes, yes, so it seems. I-I mean, um, uh, you did indeed. Good, good, good show. I-I-I just stopped by to, to see if you needed any assistance, but you seem to have things quite under control." He stammered sitting on the desk and smiling at Willow.

"Well, I had good lesson plans. Ms. Calendar had them on her computer." Willow told him gently.

"Yes, yes, she's very, um... uh, dedicated." Giles said, his voice portraying the pain he was feeling.

Willow tried to change the subject "And I found a bunch of files and Internet sites on paganism and magic and stuff." She smiled at him brightly.

"Oh?" Giles said.

"Yes, it's really interesting." Willow continued.

Giles looked down away from her, his mind clearly still on Miss Calendar. Willow reached into a drawer in the desk and pulled out a light pink quartz stone.

"And, uh, I found this in her drawer. She told me it was a rose quartz. And it has healing powers." Willow told him as he stared at the stone intently.

"I thought maybe you could take it to her, it might help" Willow said kindly.

Giles got up from the desk and slowly took the necklace from her.

"Oh, thank you, Willow, that's, um... that's very thoughtful of you."  
With that he left the classroom leaving a worried Willow to watch him as he walked slowly away.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 3 takes place in the episode "Becoming Part 1"  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

Jenny had now been lying in a coma for two months without any signs of recovery. The situation was bleak but Giles had remained ever hopeful, refusing to accept that she may never wake up. Demonic activity had luckily been pretty slow lately with the exception of a couple of ghosts and the swim team turning into fish monsters. Buffy had spent most of her time waiting for her big showdown with Angel and mentally preparing herself for it. The break from slaying had also gave her extra time to study for finals and go through the old watcher diaries. She had been trying to find any mention of slayers having children in the past. Although unsure if she would find anything, she needed answers and this seemed like the best place to start looking for them.

* * *

"Tell Angel, I'm gonna kill him….no wait…I'm gonna kill you. Die! Die! Die! Arghh….mother?"

Buffy, Willow, Oz and Cordelia sat around the table in the cafeteria avidly watching the fish stick puppet show Xander was performing for them.

"Is that it?" Cordelia asked, bemused by what she had just seen.

"That's it" Xander nodded. "Scene!" He said looking at Buffy.

"That's exactly how it happened" Buffy admitted.

"Well, I thought it was riveting. And I'm a little unclear about some of the themes." Oz stated, leaning slightly forward.

"The theme is Angel's too much of a coward to take me on face-to-face." The slayer told him.

Xander continued to play with his fish sticks "And the other theme was 'Buy American', but it, uh, got kind of buried."

Willow smiled at her friends' joke and turned to Buffy "Do you think you're ready to fight Angel?" she queried, clearly concerned for the slayer's state of mind.

"I wish people would stop asking me that. Yes, I'm ready. I'm also willing and able. Just the one test I might actually pass." she told the red head despondently.

Willow instantly put on her teacher's hat and was in motivation mode "Don't say that! You're gonna pass everything. I will get you through this semester if I have to sweat blood." she said determinedly.

"Do you think you're likely to? 'Cause I'd like to be elsewhere." Xander retorted, slightly grossed out by the visual image.

"It was only metaphor blood." Willow responded.

"I think you'd sweat cute blood." Oz said in his usual tone. Willow gave her boyfriend a smile. "Sixth period, after my computer class, we'll rock on chemistry."

"Ready to rock" Buffy said keenly.

Willow eyed the bottle of water in her friend's hand. "Well you should probably eat something, you don't want to study on an empty stomach. Besides you've only had water all day."

"Oh I'm fine, I just um, I had a really large breakfast" the slayer lied as she casually rubbed a hand over her stomach. A tiny bump was forming which had so far gone un-noticed. The 'right time' that she had been waiting on to tell everyone about the baby had so far not arrived and time was running out. She knew she would have to let them all know very soon.

"So do you wanna come by my house tonight and study, too?" Willow asked Buffy.

"Maybe. I-I do have to patrol." Buffy admitted.

"Again? Do you really expect Angel to turn up tonight?" Willow confusedly asked.

Buffy looked up with a forlorn look "No, I don't expect him to. But that's usually when he does."

* * *

Buffy yawned widely and slumped down further in her seat beside the stacks as she held open one of the watchers' diaries. She had been working her way back through the years and had just stumbled across mention of a slayer in New York who had been killed by a vampire, leaving her four year old son motherless. Buffy sat upright and quickly scanned the entry for further information.

"Buffy?" Willow called as she entered the library.

"I'm up here" Buffy finally called as she placed her bookmark into the page and quickly tossed the diary into her bag before Willow had seen her.

"Are you ready to study?" The red head asked chirpily.

"Yup, I'm all ready to absorb copious amounts of useful knowledge" Buffy replied smiling.

"That's what I like to hear" Willow beamed. "My textbooks are all in the computer classroom, you wanna study there?"

"Sure" she said while following Willow down the stairs.

Giles shuffled slowly into the library with his jacket slung over his shoulder. Looking up, he met the two girls on their way out.

"Hey Giles" Buffy said. "How was Miss Calendar today?"

Giles smiled. "Good, good. I spoke to her for a while. The doctor said it could help, if she hears a familiar voice. It's only a matter of time before she wakes up now" he said with a contrived sense of hope.

Buffy and Willow averted his gaze, not wanting him to notice the doubt and pity written on their faces.

"Of course. I'm sure she'll wake up soon" Willow finally spoke up. "Well, we better go study." She said nervously as they each passed on either side of him and exited the library.

* * *

Buffy slammed her pencil down on the desk and frowned. "Waah! This doesn't make any sense." She pouted huffily.

"Well, sure it does." Willow said encouragingly as she took the paper from Buffy "See...Oh, no, this doesn't make any sense."

Buffy shrugged "It's senseless".

"It is, but at least you know that, so you're learning." Willow replied trying to look on the 'glass is half full' side of things.

"Yay me. Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I mean, when in the real world am I ever gonna need chemistry or history or math or the English language…?" she said rather unconvincingly.

Willow shot Buffy an annoyed glance "Okay. I see your problem."

"I'm a moron?" Buffy asked.

"Will you stop that? You're not stupid! You've just had a lot on your mind. You can learn this real easily, but if you're just gonna give up, then don't waste my time." She said showing her annoyance.

Buffy looked impressed and slightly scared. "Wow. You really are a good teacher."

Willow smiled. "Okay. Look at this. A covalent bond, which means these two atoms are linked by this..."

She was cut off as Buffy's pencil rolled off the desk. "Ohh! Hold that thought." The slayer moaned as she reached down and retrieved her pencil.

"Okay. I'm Learn Girl." She said looking back at the book.

Willow continued on with the tutorial "Okay. So, see here..."

"Deja vu." Buffy interrupted with a look of confusion.

"Really?" Willow asked, intrigued.

"Yeah. I have this perfect memory of the pencil and..." she rolled the pencil off the desk once more and reached down to retrieve it. As she looked down between the desk and the cabinet she noticed the yellow floppy disk lying there.

"Oh, hey. You dropped this." Buffy said handing the disk to her friend.

"It's not mine." Willow said curiously. "It might be something of Ms. Calendar's." she resolved as she inserted it into the computer and waited as it loaded.

Buffy looked over to the computer and suddenly felt guilty about going through Jenny's files. "Should we be doing this? Looking at her personal files?"

Willow simply smiled at Buffy "I've gone through most of them already."

The slayer looked confused, "Does that make it ok or does it just make you really snoopy?"

Willow sighed "I had to, to teach her class."

The program on the disk started up, and the curse scrolled into the right-hand window.  
"Relax, Will. I was making with the funny." Buffy retorted.

As she stared at the screen she began to read what had appeared before her. "Does that say 'restoration'?" she asked, moving in closer.

"It's one of her spells, I think." Willow replied. "Ms. Calendar wasn't a practicing witch, but she did dabble..."

"Willow..." Buffy interrupted as she realized what she was looking at.

Willow looked back at the screen and began reading more. She quickly realized what they had found. "Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Oh, boy".

* * *

"What are you saying?" Giles asked in disbelief as he walked towards Buffy and Willow.

"The curse." Buffy said, handing him a sheet of paper "This is it".

"Looks like Ms. Calendar was trying to replicate the original curse to restore Angel's soul again." Willow said almost smiling.

Giles stared at the printout. "She said it couldn't be done". He replied in amazement.

"Well, she tried anyway. And it looks like it might have worked." Buffy said with an edge of hope in her voice.

Xander was sitting at the table scowling and eventually decided to speak up. "So he tried to kill her... before she could tell anyone about it. What a prince, huh?"

"This is good, right? I mean, we can curse him again." Cordelia reasoned.

Giles looked in her direction as he thought about the notion "Um, well, this, um... certainly points the way, but... the ritual itself requires a greater knowledge of the black arts than I, I, I can claim." He said, trying not to get their hopes up.

Willow stepped forward to face him "Well, I've been going through her files and, and researching the black arts, for fun, or educational fun, and I may be able to work  
this." She said confidently.

Giles smiled at Willow and placed a hand on her arm "W-Willow... channeling... such potent magicks through yourself, it could open a door that you may not be able to  
close." He explained.

"I don't want you putting yourself in any danger, Will." Buffy said solemnly.

"And I don't want danger. Big 'no' to danger, but I may be the best person to do this." The red head argued.

Xander was seething and couldn't believe what he was hearing. He finally stood up from the table and spoke up. "Hi! For those of you who have just tuned in, everyone here is a crazy person. So this spell might restore Angel's humanity? Well, here's an interesting angle. Who cares?" He said harshly.

"I care" Buffy quietly responded.

Xander wasn't surprised at all "Is that right".

"Let's not lose our perspective here, Xander." Giles interjected.

Xander stood his ground and continued. "I'm Perspective Guy. Angel's a killer."

Willow looked at her friend in disbelief "Xander..."

"It's not that simple." Buffy quietly spoke up again.

"What? All is forgiven? I can't believe you people!" Xander spat, disgusted at what they were suggesting.

Cordelia stood up from behind Xander and tried to remain level headed "Xander has a point." She calmly stated.

He turned around, infuriated at what he thought his girlfriend had said "You know, just for once, I wish you'd support me, and I realize right now that you were, and I'm embarrassed, so I'm gonna get back to the point, which is that Angel needs to die".

Giles was getting slightly annoyed at Xander's outburst and tried to reason with him "Well curing Angel seems to be what Jenny wants to do."

"Yeah? Well, Jenny might as well be dead." He shouted back insensitively.

Giles was raging and walked towards Xander furiously "Don't you EVER speak of her in that tone again!"

"Can't you hear what I'm saying?" Xander shouted interrupting the watcher. The two continued to shout at each other aggressively until Buffy rushed in to break up their heated argument.

"Stop it! Stop it!" she shouted, exasperated.

For a moment there was silence and everyone glared at each other. Buffy walked towards Willow barely keeping it together. Giles marched off to the side.

Willow turned to her best friend "What do you wanna do?" she asked quietly.

"I-I don't know. What happened to Angel wasn't his fault." Buffy said in a barely audible tone.

"Yeah, but what happened to Ms. Calendar is." Xander once again thoughtlessly retorted.

Buffy and Willow stared at him in shock.

"You can paint this any way you want. But the way I see it is that you wanna forget all about what happened to Ms. Calendar and all the people Angel killed so you can get your boyfriend back." Xander said disgustedly.

Buffy had had enough and finally walked out of the library, refusing to listen to any more of it.

* * *

When Angelus heard about the large box shaped rock that had recently been dug up outside of Sunnydale, he knew almost immediately that it had to be the tomb of Acathla the demon. Legend told of how Acathla had tried to suck the world into hell but had been stopped by a brave knight hundreds of years ago. If Angelus succeeded in awakening Acathla, it would mean the end of Sunnydale and the end of the world…something he liked the sound of.

He wasted no time in stealing the obelisk and returning it to the mansion where he planned on performing the ritual to awaken the demon.

* * *

Buffy took the watcher's diary out of her book bag and sat down on her bed. Flipping it open to the page she had bookmarked earlier, she continued to read about the slayer from New York. Her son was four when she was killed and her watcher had raised him and trained him in basic combat. Apparently he had no special powers or slayer strength, he was just a regular kid. So it wasn't impossible for Buffy as the slayer to have a baby, but what about the father being a vampire? Would that have some affect on the child? Would it even be completely human? Her worrying thoughts were interrupted when the phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Buffy it's me, are you coming over to study tonight?" Willow said.

"Well, I'll do a couple of sweeps, and then I'll stop by" She replied.

"How are you feeling now? I can't believe Xander was acting like such a dickhead earlier" Willow uncharacteristically said.

"Yeah, Xander was pretty much being a... Willow! Where did you learn that word? My God. You kiss your mother with that mouth?" she incredulously gasped while getting off the bed and packing her bag with stakes.

"Sorry, but he was. It should be up to you whether we curse Angel again, and Giles is fine with it. So what do you wanna do?" Willow asked.

"I don't know. I don't know what I wanna do." Buffy replied sadly. As she said this she opened the top drawer in her desk to retrieve a few more stakes. Her eyes suddenly rested upon the claddagh ring at the bottom of the drawer. The ring that Angel had gave her for her birthday. Buffy picked it up and held it in her hand simply staring at the heart and the hands while remembering the night Angel had gave it to her.

"Well have a think about it cos if you want to do it I can totally work it. I just need a few days to set everything up" Willow reassured her friend.

Buffy continued to stare at the ring and was lost in her thoughts "I'll, I'll see you in a little while, okay?" she said distantly.

"Ok, later. Bye" Willow said and hung up the phone.

Buffy turned off her phone and laid it down turning her attention back to the claddagh ring. The one thing she wanted most in the world was to have Angel back. She desperately wanted to get lost in his arms again, for him to hug and kiss her and make her feel whole again. Make her feel safe. She had given up hope of that ever happening again but now there was a chance. If Willow could really curse him he would be Angel again, the Angel she loved, the Angel who loved her and who had gave her the claddagh ring. The Angel who was the father of her baby. She had made up her mind. She wanted Angel back. She was going to ask Willow to curse him again.

* * *

Angelus and Drusilla walked across the marble floor of the mansion towards Spike. The blonde vampire was sitting in his wheelchair staring at the large obelisk before him. "It's a big rock. I can't wait to tell my friends. They don't have a rock this big." Spike sarcastically stated.

"Spike, boy, you never did learn your history." Angelus mocked.

Spike continued to glared at the rock "Let's have a lesson, then."

Angelus walked towards the obelisk "Acathla the demon came forth to swallow the world. He was killed by a virtuous knight who pierced the demon's heart before he could draw a breath to perform the act. Acathla turned to stone, as demons sometimes do, and was buried where neither man nor demon would want to look."

Angelus paused and looked to Spike, slowly walking in his direction "Unless of course they're putting up low-rent housing. Boys..." Angel motioned for his lackeys to open the box.

The two vampires reached up with crowbars and opened the tomb. Dust filled the air as the lid crashed to the floor. When it had receded, a tall, ugly, stone demon with a sword protruding form the right side of his chest could be seen.

Drusilla began to sway back and forth "He fills my head. I can't hear anything else."

Spike was less than impressed. "Let me guess. Someone pulls out the sword..."

"Someone worthy..." Angelus added.

"Mm. The demon wakes up, and wackiness ensues." Spike continued.

"He will swallow the world." Drusilla said.

Angelus began to smirk "And every creature living on this planet will go to Hell." He walked towards Acathla and turned to face Spike and Dru with an evil smile "My friends... we're about to make history... end."

* * *

On her way to Willows house Buffy had unexpectedly came across Kendra. The second slayer had been sent to Sunnydale by her watcher to advise Buffy of a dark power that was about to rise and end the world. The two girls made their way to the library to speak with Giles.

When they heard that Acathla had been stolen it became clear that they had to act fast. They decided that the best plan of action was for Willow to attempt to curse Angel. That way, if Buffy couldn't stop Angel in time they still had another chance.

* * *

Angel grabbed onto the sword sticking out of Acathla with his bloody hand and pulled it tightly. It didn't seem to be moving and Angelus couldn't figure out why. As he continued to pull it a sudden bright red flame burst from the sword and threw Angelus back onto the floor.

Spike was delighted and taunted his rival in a sing song voice "Someone wasn't worthy."

Angelus was furious and leapt to his feet "Damn it!"

"This is so... disappointing!" Drusilla moaned manically.

"There must be something I missed. The incantations, the blood... I don't know!" he shouted as he paced the floor in front of the demon.

"What are we going to do?" Drusilla whined.

Angelus gritted his teeth, seething with rage. "What we always do in a time of trouble: turn to an old friend."

Hope suddenly returned to Drusilla's eyes.

"We'll have our Armageddon. I swear!" he growled viciously, picking up a vase and hurling it towards the far wall smashing it into hundreds of tiny pieces.

He had an idea, one he knew would easily work. Buffy could never resist the offer of a fight.

* * *

Buffy hurriedly walked through the cemetery looking for Angel. The warning had been clear. If she didn't go to meet him tonight more people would die. It was finally time to bring the fight to him. If she could hold him back long enough then Willow would have enough time to do the spell. The vampire Angel had sent to give her the message had made Buffy realise how serious he was and she couldn't risk anyone else being killed. Kendra had even given Buffy her stake, Mr. Pointy for good luck.

Angelus spotted Buffy coming towards him and walked out from behind a small mausoleum.

"Hello, lover. I wasn't sure you'd come." He spoke up, smiling.

Buffy looked in the direction of the voice and remained cool "After your immolation-o-gram? Come on, I had to show. Shouldn't you be out destroying the world right now, pulling the sword out of Al Franken or whatever his name is?"

Angelus smiled "There's time enough. I wanted to say goodbye first. You are the one thing in this dimension I will miss." He teased.

Buffy looked bored "This is a beautiful moment we're having. Can we please fight?"

Angelus looked hurt "I didn't come here to fight."

"No?" she said raising her eyebrows.

"Gosh, I was hoping we could get back together. What do you think? Do we have a shot?" he asked feigning sincerity.

Buffy looked at him with a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

Angelus gave up the charade "Alright. We'll fight."

* * *

Willow sat cross legged on the table as she read out the curse with Giles.

"Let him know the pain of humanity, gods. Reach your wizened hands to me. Give me the sword..." she continued.

The curse was interrupted as a vampire came out from the stacks and attacked Xander on the balcony. Suddenly, behind Kendra two more vampires threw open the main doors and walked in. With the ritual abandoned, Willow and Cordy began to run for their life.

"Get out! Go!" Giles shouted motioning towards the stacks.

* * *

Angelus was beginning to get the upper hand with Buffy, blocking every swing she took. "Jeez, is it me, or is your heart not in this? Maybe I'll just go home and destroy the world"

Buffy whipped out Mr Pointy and held it menacingly towards him "Well, I think Mr. Pointy will have something to say about that. Come on. Let's finish this. You and me." She said forcefully.

Angelus began to laugh "Y-you never learn, do you? This wasn't about you. This was never about you." He couldn't help himself and began to laugh harder.

Realisation spread across Buffy's face as the reality of the situation began to sink in. This was a trap for the others. Without pause she turned on her heels and began to run as fast as she could back to the library.

Angelus watched her go and smiled "And you fall for it every single time!" he called in her direction as she disappeared round the corner.

* * *

Buffy ran down the corridor praying that she wasn't too late. Throwing open the library door she scanned the destruction before her. Her eyes fell to the ground as she was met with the sight of Kendra lying on the floor dead. Rushing to her side she sat with her fellow slayer and held her hand. None of this would have happened if Buffy hadn't gone to fight Angel.

Before she had a chance to gather her thoughts she heard someone behind her.

"Freeze!" shouted the cop who was pointing a gun in her direction.

Buffy spun her head around to stare at the man.  
Things had just got a lot worse…

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 4 takes place in the episode "Becoming Part 2"  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

"Freeze! Put your hands up. Back away from the girl slowly." The officer shouted to Buffy as he aimed his gun at her. 

Buffy slowly began to stand up and raise her hands as another officer came in behind the first, gun drawn and surveying the scene.

"Look, I didn't do anything." Buffy pleaded with the cops.

"Do it! Now!" the first cop demanded.

The second cop knelt down to Kendra's body "This one's dead." She said as she felt for a pulse.

"What about up there?" the first cop asked, still pointing his gun at Buffy and motioning towards the balcony.  
Buffy followed their gaze and was met with the sight of Xander lying unconscious on the floor "Xander...".

As she tried to run to him she was pushed back towards the door by the second cop.

"Get her out of here!" the first cop ordered.

Buffy tried to loosen the cops grip on her "Wait! Just see if he's okay! Please!" she begged. Eventually giving up, she stopped struggling and let herself be led out of the library.

"Please. You don't understand." Buffy told the officer but it was to no avail.

"You'd do well to keep your mouth shut, missy." He told her.

Principal Snyder approached them from down the hall with two more police officers in tow.

"But I didn't do anything." Buffy continued.

Snyder reached the pair and eyed Buffy menacingly "Why do I find that so very hard to believe?" he snarled.

"You know this girl?" the first cop asked.

"Buffy Summers. If there's trouble, she's behind it." He began, intent on having Buffy arrested.

"You stupid little troll. You have no idea!" she angrily retorted.

"…Attitude problem. Serious." He continued.

Buffy had had enough and turned round to face the officer "Look, I just wanna know if my friends are okay." She pleaded.

"All right, that's enough." The officer finally said.

He spun her back around and reached for his handcuffs. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and..."

Buffy glanced over her shoulder and punched the officer in the face cutting him off mid sentence. As he stepped back in pain she tackled him to the ground and made a run for it. She could hear the second cop behind her ordering her to stop but she ran even faster. As she quickly looked over her shoulder the cop fired a shot which narrowly missed her, shattering the pane of glass in the door she had just used as her escape.

* * *

With the police after her, Buffy had to change clothes to disguise herself and then made her way to the hospital to check on her friends. She was relieved when she realised Xander wasn't hurt but soon came the news that Willow had suffered head trauma. The pair stayed with their unconscious friend for a while but the situation brought back painful memories of Miss Calendar's accident. When Cordelia finally arrived it became apparent that Giles was missing. The trap had been for him.

* * *

As Buffy ran towards Giles' apartment she could see the door was already open. She ran in and called his name, desperately hoping that she had been wrong and he was safe.

She scanned the apartment quickly and looked around for her watcher. As she did this Whistler came down the stairs from the loft.

"I don't think he's here." The voice said from behind her.

Buffy spun around to face the demon "Who are you?" she demanded.

"Whistler." The badly dressed man replied.

Buffy was immediately suspicious of this new characters intentions "What are you doing here?" she quizzed him.

"I'm waiting for you." He told her as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Why?" she asked, beginning to lose her patience.

Whistler smiled at her "Cause I-I-I need a date to the prom" he joked.

Jokes were not something Buffy was in the mood for at that moment, and instantly closed the gap between her and Whistler, grabbed his neck and shoved him up against the wall.

"I have had a really bad day, okay? If you have information worth hearing, then I am grateful for it. If you're gonna crack jokes, then I'm gonna pull out your ribcage and wear it as a hat." She forcefully suggested.

Whistler was slightly taken aback by this threat "Hello to the imagery! Very nice...It wasn't supposed to go down like this. Nobody figured the curse had a loop hole in it. I figured this for Angel's big day. But I thought he was here to stop Acathla, not to bring him forth. This was his fight, not yours. They've got bigger plans for you and Angel. But then this pesky little clause kicked in when you two made with the smoochies... now he's a creep again. Now, what are you gonna do? W-what are you prepared to do?"

"Whatever I have to." Buffy replied seriously.

"Maybe I should ask, what are you prepared to give up?" Whistler asked cryptically.

Buffy was tired of his games, "You don't have anything useful to tell me, do you?  
What are you, just some immortal demon sent down to even the score between good and evil?" she sarcastically replied.

Whistler was impressed "Wow. Good guess." He replied grinning.

Buffy stepped towards him, not seeing the funny side at all. "Well, why don't you try getting off your immortal ass and fighting evil once in a while? 'Cause I'm sick and  
tired of doing it myself."

Whistler looked seriously at her "You're right. Soon you won't have to do it yourself. But right now, you're by yourself. You're all you've got. That's the point."

Buffy looked at him confused by what he had told her. She was sick of his cryptic replies. "Spare me." She said walking to the door.

Whistler panicked as she began to leave "The sword isn't enough. You gotta be ready."

Buffy didn't show any signs of stopping and disappeared from the apartment.

"You gotta know how to use it!" he shouted after her as the door slammed, but she was gone. "Poor kid" he muttered under his breath as he stared at the door.

* * *

As Buffy walked down the street outside Giles' house she was ambushed by a police car. Before she had a chance to run or fight, Spike appeared from nowhere and knocked out the police officer. Buffy looked on in confusion at the blonde vampire who had came to her rescue.

With the cop unconscious Spike turned around to face the slayer with a grin on his face "Hello, cutie."

Without warning Buffy lunged forward and punched him twice in the face. Spike was disgruntled and grabbed her by the shoulders in an attempt to restrain her only to be kneed in the gut by an un-cooperating Buffy.

"Now, you hold on a second!" Spike shouted shoving her away from him.

Buffy immediately pulled out a stake as Spike jumped back, hands in the air.

"Hey! White flag here. I quit." He pleaded.

"Let me clear this up for you. We're mortal enemies. We don't get time-outs." She quipped, not in the mood for games.

Spike glared at her "You want to go around, pet, I'll have a gay old time of it. You  
want to stop Angel... we're gonna have to play this a bit differently."

Buffy stood there, still holding the stake threateningly "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your ex, pet. I'm talking about putting him in the bloody ground." Spike said seriously.

Buffy stared at the vampire incredulously "This has gotta be the lamest trick you guys have ever thought up." She said lowering her stake.

"He's got your Watcher. Right now, he's probably torturing him." Spike told her.

Buffy tensed up on hearing the news that Angel had Giles "What do you want?"

Spike smiled. "I told you. I want to stop Angel. I want to save the  
world."

* * *

The unlikely duo had decided to put their differences aside to help each other out. On the way to Buffy's house to talk, they had encountered Buffy's mom who was more than a bit confused about what was going on. The police had spoken to her earlier while looking for Buffy and now she had found her daughter walking about with an older, dangerous looking man.

"You know what? Why don't we go inside, and, and we can talk about this." Buffy suggested, trying to act normal.

She started walking towards the door with Spike when Joyce spoke up.

"I'm, I'm not sure how I feel about this." Joyce said hesitantly.

As Buffy turned to face her she was pushed aside by a vampire who made a bee line for her mother. Joyce screamed and backed away while Buffy and Spike attacked him. Pulling out her stake, Buffy swiftly drove it through the vampires heart in front of a petrified Joyce.

Spike casually walked forward observing the pile of dust on the path. "One of Angel's boys." He noted.

"Yeah, probably watching me. Or you." Buffy guessed.

Spike smiled at her "Yeah. He won't get a chance to tattle on us now."

Joyce couldn't understand what was bewildered by what had just happened "Buffy... what... is going on?" Joyce asked.

Buffy realised that she had no choice and this was the right time to tell her mother about her true identity. Slowly walking over to her, she prayed that she would understand.

"Mom... I'm a Vampire Slayer."

* * *

Buffy had just got off the phone with a recently-awakened Willow. She was so glad her friend had been given the all clear and apologised that she couldn't be there. Right at this moment she had a lot more important things to deal with. She walked through to the front room to rejoin her confused mother and arch nemesis.

Spike and Buffy agreed on a deal – Buffy let Spike and Dru skip town in exchange for Giles' life. Spike eventually left to go and make sure Giles was alright. Buffy didn't have any time to waste now, she had to get the sword and be ready to hit the mansion come day break. But before all that she had to deal with a tipsy and confused Joyce who was intent on calling the police.

"Cops can't fight demons. I have to do it." Buffy said taking the phone from her mother and slamming it back into its cradle.

Joyce was beginning to lose her temper "Do what? Buffy, what is happening?"

"Just have another drink." Buffy said turning around and starting to walk off, not wanting to deal with her mother.

Joyce threw the glass aside in anger and it smashed on the floor.

"Don't you talk to me that way! You don't get to just dump something like this on me and pretend it's nothing!" she shouted.

Buffy turned around to face her mother, calmer than before. "I'm sorry, Mom, but I don't have time for this." She apologised and once again headed for the door.

"No! I am tired of 'I don't have time' or-or 'you wouldn't understand'. I am your mother, and you will make time to explain yourself." Joyce demanded.

"I told you. I'm a Vampire Slayer." Buffy replied.

"Well, I just don't accept that!" her mother said angrily.

Buffy was annoyed at her mother's lack of support and stepped closer "Open your eyes, Mom. What do you think has been going on for the past two years? The fights, the weird occurrences. How many times have you washed blood out of my clothing, and you still haven't figured it out?" she yelled incredulously.

"Well, it stops now!" Joyce said forcefully.

"No, it doesn't stop! It never stops!" Buffy retorted, raising her voice.

"Do-do you think I chose to be like this? Do you have any idea how lonely it is, how dangerous? I would love to be upstairs watching TV or gossiping about boys or... God, even studying! But I have to save the world... again." She shouted, giving her mother some insight into how difficult her life was, but Joyce didn't buy it.

"No. This is insane. Buffy, you need help." She reasoned, gripping her daughters arms.

Buffy threw her off "I'm not crazy! What I need is for you to chill. I have to go!" she pleaded.

Joyce shook her head "No. I am not letting you out of this house."

"You can't stop me." Buffy told her.

Joyce grabbed Buffy once again "Oh yes I..."

Before she could finish Buffy forcefully shoved her mom backwards. Joyce fell into the island, knocking several things onto the floor. She stood there in shock, watching her daughter storm out the door.

"You walk out of this house, don't even think about coming back!" she threatened viciously.

Buffy turned around to face her once more before finally turning around and walking away.

* * *

Yellow tape covered the entrance to the library but that didn't stop Buffy. She pulled it apart as she walked in and looked at the chalk outline of Kendra and the orb and candles on the table that had been used to try and cure Angel. She grabbed Kendra's duffel bag and began to rummage through it.

Principal Snyder entered the room. "You do know this is a crime scene, don't you? But then... you're a criminal, so that pretty much works out." He said from behind her.

Buffy looked up at him and met his gaze "You know I didn't do it. The police will figure it out." She said calmly.

"In case you haven't noticed, the police of Sunnydale are deeply stupid. It doesn't matter anyway." He said stepping closer to her.

"Whatever they find, you've proved too much of a liability for this school. These are the moments you want to savour. You wish time would stop so that you could live them over and over again. You're expelled." He said, smiling smugly.

Buffy reached into the bag and pulled out the sword she needed. As she held it up she turned it in her hand, gazing at the blade. Snyder took a small step back and gulped.

Buffy's eyes were fixated on the blade. "You never ever got a single date in high school, did you?" she said looking up at him.

"Your point being?" he said defensively.

Buffy slowly walked out of the library, lingering slightly as she passed Snyder while holding the sword dangerously close to his neck. She left the school and made her way over to Giles' apartment hoping her cryptic friend would still be around.

* * *

Willow was starting to feel a lot better and decided that she wanted to try the curse again. Xander had objected, saying that Willow was too weak but that wasn't the only reason. He hated Angel and had been against restoring his soul from the start. Unfortunately for him Willow had given her resolve face, which he had seen many times before. There was no arguing with his friend when she used her resolve face.

Angelus had been torturing Giles for hours but still the watcher refused to impart any knowledge to the vampire. He was tired and covered in blood and sweat. Pain was flooding his body in waves but no matter what Angelus did to him, he couldn't break Giles. Finally, with the help of Drusilla tricking Giles into thinking that Jenny had recovered and came to save him, Angelus found out what he needed to know.

* * *

Buffy walked into Giles apartment and found Whistler looking at the contents of Giles' fridge.

"Whistler. What did you mean, the sword isn't enough?"

Whistler continued surveying the fridge and finally found a bottle of beer. "You know, raiding an Englishman's fridge is like dating a nun. You're never gonna get the good stuff."

"Tell me how to use it." Buffy said calmly.

Whistler casually opened the bottle and took a swig. "Angel's the key. His blood will open the door to Hell. Acathla opens his big mouth, creates a vortex. Then only Angel's blood will close it. One blow will send 'em both back to Hell. But I strongly suggest that you get there before that happens and stop him from awakening Acathla full stop, 'cause if you don't, you'll have to kill him."

Buffy listened while he explained everything to her. "It doesn't work like that. I'm gonna have to kill him either way" Buffy said gravely.

Whistler began to smile "Things aren't always what they seem. It's all on the line here, kid."

"I can deal. I got nothing left to lose." She said sadly, making her way to the door.

"This wasn't meant to happen, we didn't plan this. The three of you were meant to be together." He called after her.

Buffy stopped dead in her tracks, looking confused. "Three?" she said while slowly turning around to look at Whistler. "who's we!" she asked.

The immortal demon looked at her mischievously. "Bigger things are coming, much bigger than this. Things you can't deal with alone. It's all part of the plan, it's always been the plan." He said smiling.

"What plan? What did you mean by three?" Buffy said walking towards Whistler threateningly.

"You know what I mean, you, Angel and the kid. She's special. You'll see what I mean" he said seriously.

"She? You-you know about my baby? What's the plan? Tell me what's going to happen" Buffy said wide eyed, raising her voice.

"I can't, even I don't know all the details. But I'm here to tell you, if you don't get to Angel quick and stop all this before it goes down, there will be some serious consequences…not just for us, but for you and your baby. You have to go" Whistler said apologetically.

A single tear ran down Buffy's cheek as what had been said registered in her mind. Slowly backing away she turned and quickly ran out the door.

* * *

Buffy entered the mansion with Xander and observed the scene before her. Xander went to find Giles while Buffy crept up on the vampires beginning their ritual.

Angelus was slowly walking towards Acathla. "Acathla... Mundatus sum... pro te necavi. Sanguinem meum... pro te effundam... quo me dignum... esse demonstrem."

"Now, Acathla...You will be free." Angelus said while cutting his hand with the blade and finally dropping it to the ground. "…And so will we all."

Buffy walked quietly towards one of the vampires and with one swing of her sword decapitated him. Drusilla and Angelus turned their heads and saw Buffy who calmly met their gazes.

"Hello, lover." Buffy said to Angelus.

He stood there, annoyed "I don't have time for you."

"You don't have a lot of time left." Buffy told him.

Angelus was bored "Coming on kind of strong, don't you think? You're playing some  
deep odds here. Do you really think you can take us all on?" he mocked.

"No. I don't." Buffy said coolly as Spike rose from his chair behind Angel and whipped him hard across the back with a pole. Buffy started to take out the vamps one by one as Spike continued pounding on Angel with glee.

"Painful, isn't it!" the blonde vampire taunted.

On seeing Spike attack Angel, Drusilla started to freak out and ran over to the pair, tackling Spike to the ground. They quickly got to their feet again and began to fight.

"I don't want to hurt you, baby." Spike pleaded.

Drusilla was furious and grabbed him by the throat, shoving him into the wall. He slapped her arm aside and finally punched her in the face. "Doesn't mean I won't".

Angelus awoke and sat up, rubbing his head and grimacing in pain. He glanced over to Acathla and smiled. Jumping up he ran over to the demon and grabbed the sword with his bloodied hand. A bright light emanated out of the demon and Acathla awoke. Suddenly the sword gave way and Angelus was able to pull it out. He swung it around in his hand and looked at it.

Buffy dusted the vamp she had been fighting and looked over at Angelus and Acathla, realising she had failed and would now be forced to kill Angelus. She looked around for her sword, grabbed it and made her way over to Angelus.

"You almost made it, Buff." Angelus said, sword in hand and ready to fight.

"It's not over yet." Buffy said confidently.

Angelus laughed. "My boy Acathla here is about to wake up. You're going to Hell."

"Save me a seat." She said before swinging at him with her sword.

The fight ensued as they blocked each others blows, neither one having the upper hand. Buffy easily ducked his swings and knocked him to the ground several times but he continued to fight. Eventually the fight moved out into the atrium. Buffy lost her sword and hit the ground, scrambling backwards.

Spike walked through the mansion carrying Drusilla and took a moment to observe the fight. "God, he's gonna kill her." He said before shrugging and heading off in the direction of the garage.

Angelus played with his sword, idly pointing it at Buffy. She looked up at him, frightened.

"Now that's everything, huh? No weapons... No friends... No hope." He taunted.

"Take all that away... and what's left?". He drew his sword back and thrust it directly at her face. Suddenly Buffy caught the blade between the palms of her hands and opened her eyes.

"Me." She shoved the blade back into his face and he lost his balance, staggering back. Buffy hopped to her feet and picked up her sword, regaining her stance she began to swing at him with more vigour than before. This time she had the upper hand and knocked him back into the mansion. As he fought back she blocked his swings and eventually he collapsed to the ground as Buffy kicked him in the face. Buffy took this opportunity to make her final swing. Holding back her sword she prepared herself.

As Angelus kneeled in front of Acathla, he felt something go through him and gasped in pain. Willow's spell was complete. Angel's eyes lit up as his soul was restored and he collapsed on the ground panting and crying. Buffy was confused and paused but still held her sword back ready to kill him once she figured out what was going on.

Angel raised himself back up, his eyes heavy with tears, and looked into her eyes.

"Buffy? What's going on?" he softly said.

Buffy looked at Angel with confusion written all over her face, still not lowering her sword. Angel looked around and got to his feet.

"Where are we? I-I don't remember." He asked.

Buffy finally realised that the curse must have worked and that this was Angel.

"Angel?" she asked Softly, trying not to cry.

Angel looked at her arm and noticed her wound "You're hurt." He said worriedly holding her arm.

Buffy looked down at her wound and felt his gentle touch on her arm. Looking back up at him she took a step closer and he instantly embraced her tightly.

"Oh, Buffy... God. I... I feel like I haven't seen you in months." He said as he hugged her.

Buffy melted into his arms and closed her eyes. She sighed as she relished the feeling of him once again.

"Oh, my God, everything's so muddled. I..." Angel said holding her even closer. He was overcome with emotion and just wanted to hold Buffy for as long as he could. He sighed deeply, feeling at peace once again and kissed her on the shoulder. "Oh, Buffy..."

Buffy cried into his shoulder and hugged him back, desperately not wanting to let go. As she opened her eyes she stared in shock at the sight of Acathla begin to open his mouth and the vortex enlarge. As the realisation of what she had to do sunk in she held him tighter and tried not to cry. The thought was unbearable but she had no option.

Angel released his hold on her gently and looked at her "What's happening?" he asked, still unable to remember what was going on.

Buffy gently brushed her fingers over his lips and across his cheek "Shh. Don't worry about it." She reassured him lovingly. She kissed him softly and he returned the kiss as it became more passionate. Buffy finally broke off the kiss and stared deep into his eyes.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you." Angel replied.

Buffy once again placed her fingers gently on his lips. "Close your eyes."

She nodded reassuringly and he complied. The look of pain suddenly filled her face as she fought back the tears once more. She took one last look and kissed him gently one last time. Then she stepped back, drew back her sword and thrust it into his chest. His eyes suddenly opened wide in surprise and pain and a bright light shot out of the sword. Angel was hurt and confused and looked at her, pleadingly

"Buffy..."

Buffy was unable to look at his eyes and stared at the sword protruding from his chest. She began to take steps back as the vortex closed, swallowing Angel and taking him to hell.

As she stared at the stone demon silence filled the room. She realised what she had done. She had killed Angel, she had sent him to hell and she would never see him again. She broke down in tears and fled from the mansion. She didn't know if she could live with herself anymore. She had just betrayed the one thing that she loved most in all the world and she would have to live with that guilt for the rest of her life.

Buffy couldn't face her friends or her mother. She wanted to be alone and there was only one way she could do that. While heading home she made up her mind.

Tears streamed down her face as she packed her bag and left a note for her mother. There was only one thing left to do.

* * *

Buffy watched from a distance as Giles, Xander, Willow, Oz and Cordelia congregated outside Sunnydale High awaiting her arrival. Giles and Willow were there. Now that she knew her friends were ok she could leave. Buffy took one last look at her closest friends, her school and turned around heading for the bus station.

As the bus left Sunnydale Buffy stared out the window, unable to think about anything other than Angel. He was gone for good. She only had one part of him left. Rubbing a hand over her stomach she took some solace knowing that she wasn't completely alone.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 5 takes place in the episode "Anne"  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

All summer, Buffy Summers had lived as a normal girl, no slaying, no vampires, just normal life. She was renting a small, modest apartment in LA and working at a nearby diner. The more hours she worked the better she felt, keeping busy seemed to take her mind off Angel but when she was alone he filled her thoughts constantly. 

It had been over four months since Buffy had left Sunnydale and she desperately missed her friends. Living in LA had taught her a lot of things. There were so many people there who had nothing, no hope and nobody to turn to, but she had many people that cared about her, friends and family and yet she had ran away from them. She wanted to go back so badly, but she couldn't face her mother and her friends just yet. Especially now that she was heavily pregnant. There was still so much she didn't know. She still had too many questions. Whistler had been vague to say the least. She didn't understand what the baby's purpose was or how her killing Angel would have affected that. What did it all mean?

She was afraid of what her mom would say when she found out about the baby, or what her friends would think. She worried that everyone would be mad with her for not saying goodbye or contacting them to say she was alright, but she just couldn't have. She was hurting so much, all she could do was be alone with no reminders of what had happened with Angel. One thing was for sure, she couldn't stay in LA for much longer. She badly needed to go back but she couldn't face any hurt from them, not after what had happened. She couldn't take anymore pain. There was only one person who could help her now. Giles.

As she walked towards the payphone and picked it up, a single tear slid down her cheek at the prospect of the impending conversation. She thought of him as her father and if he was upset with her she couldn't deal. She put her money in the slot and dialled the familiar number. After a few rings Giles voice was heard on the other end. It was his answering machine. She took a well needed breath, waited for the beep and then spoke quietly into the phone, trying to fight back the lump in her throat.  
"Giles…its me, Buffy. I need you. I need your help. I'm in LA. Please come and see me. My address is 1322 Brynhurst Avenue. I know I can count on you."

Giles stared at the rain pounding down on the windscreen as he turned off the ignition and rested his hands on the wheel. It was early morning, around 5am, but the sun had no chance of appearing through the thick black clouds above. Giles was tired, he hadn't slept in two days and he was losing hope. He had just drove the three hour journey home from another lead about Buffy. Every time a possible sighting of a young girl fighting vampires came in he allowed himself to get his hopes up and every time when he arrived it had been for nothing. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Between looking for Buffy, visiting Jenny and now being back at work, he had been on a tight schedule for the past week.

Slowly he opened the car door and walked towards his house, not caring about how wet he was getting. Turning the key in the lock he walked into his dark apartment and sat down at his desk. He noticed the red flashing light on the table and idly hit the button on the machine. Leaning back in his chair he listened to the tape.

"Giles…its me."

Giles recognised the familiar voice instantly and bolted upright, ripping off his glasses and staring at the machine intently. Leaping back up and grabbing his keys, he was closing the door just as the message ended. Finally, he would see her, she was ok and she was alive.

* * *

Sleeping wasn't something that Buffy got much of these days, although she craved it. When she closed her eyes she could see him and he was there with her in her dreams. But the moment she woke up he was gone and she was back to reality again. 

She lay there awake thinking about him and rubbed her stomach. She could feel her baby kicking under her hand and she smiled. At least she still had a part of Angel with her. She would always have this baby to remind her of her Angel.

Buffy pulled back the covers and carefully pulled herself up into a sitting position. She sighed as she looked through the clothes in her drawer. There were only a few things she could wear now that were baggy enough to fit her and she couldn't afford to buy anything new on her salary. Any money she got went towards food and rent and saving for the baby. She pulled on the white shirt and grey pants she had selected and walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of orange juice.

Just as she was about to turn the radio on there was a knock on the door. She thought for a second it could be someone from work but then reasoned that it was too early for social calls. It had to be Giles.

Buffy tentatively opened the door to see her Watcher standing there in disbelief. She began crying the moment she saw him. Giles looked at her and smiled with relief.

"Buffy…thank god you're alright" he bridged the gap between them and hugged her. She clung to his shoulder and cried. He suddenly noticed the extra bump between the two of them and realised she had a lot to tell him. "Oh…Buffy, are you…?" she stood back and looked at him, desperate for him not to be disappointed. She nodded fearfully and then burst out crying again. He held her as she sobbed. This explained a lot.

* * *

"I take it Angel is the father?" Giles asked tentatively as he sipped his tea. Buffy poured herself a cup and sat down. "Well unless you've heard any prophecies recently about the second Immaculate Conception I'd say that one's pretty much a gimme".

"I don't understand, I didn't think, I mean, surely it would be impossible for a vampire to have children" Giles said.

"You're telling me. Angel even told me once that he couldn't." Buffy looked down at her mug and fidgeted with her sleeve. "Shame he's not around anymore for me to show him how wrong he was."

Giles eyed her cautiously, "Ah yes, about that, how did it all unfold in the end?"

There was a long pause as the slayer fought back the tears. She gulped and averted his gaze. "Um, well we fought, he awakened Acathla and I had no choice but to kill him. Only problem was right before I was about to finish the job he got his soul back. Willow's spell worked I guess. He was Angel again. He didn't remember anything, he was confused so I kissed him, I told him that I loved him and then I told him to close his eyes and I killed him."

Giles could see the pain written across her face and wished that he could take it all away. "Oh Buffy, I'm so sorry" he reached out and touched her arm as she tried to regain control of her emotions.

"It's ok." She said half smiling. "But anyway, that night, this guy Whistler, well demon actually, he told me how to use the sword, and he knew about my baby." Buffy told her watcher who was listening intently.

"How did he know?" Giles asked bewildered.

"I don't know. He said it was a girl and she was part of some bigger plan thing. Something they'd been planning for a long time. Then he said something about how the three of us were meant to be together, me, Angel and the baby. That they didn't plan on him loosing his soul"

"Good god, so this is all part of some prophecy? I don't think I recall ever reading anything like this…I-I must consult my books about it." Giles said as he thought about the implications this could have on his slayer.

"Please do. I've been going out of my mind trying to figure it all out." Buffy said worriedly. "Giles, Angel was a vampire, ok granted he had a soul but he was still a vampire. You don't think this baby could have any…demon aspects do you?" Buffy asked, dreading the answer.

"I doubt it, but I don't think we can rule anything out right now" Giles said, trying his best not to worry Buffy. "If this man Whistler you spoke to was as you say a demon then I'm not convinced we can trust everything he told you, we don't know what side he's working for."

"But you'll look into it, right?" Buffy asked anxiously.

"Of course" Giles responded smiling warmly.

"So how is everyone back home?" Buffy asked changing the subject.

"Fine, everyone is doing well. Your friends have been taking care of the slaying while you've been away" Giles told her.

"They what!" Buffy interjected.

"Don't worry about them, they have it under control…well, almost." He said not too convincingly. "It's your mother that I'm most concerned about. She's extremely worried about you, you must let her know that you're safe. You have to call her." Giles reasoned.

"I know, I know, I just, I don't think I can face her right now. What am I supposed to say? Hey mom, how have you been all summer? By the way your only daughter is going to be a teenage mother" Buffy looked at Giles with a sullen look hoping that he would have the answers and make it all better.

"You don't think that's something she should hear face to face?" he queried.

Buffy eyed him suspiciously "Don't you mean something she should see face to face? It's kinda hard to miss"

"Ahh…yes, quite." Giles cleaned his glasses once more and smiled at Buffy.

"Anyway your mother aside, this pregnancy seems to be the result of something supernatural going on. And if it is it would mean obvious consequences for you and your child. Either way Buffy I'm not convinced that your return to Sunnydale right now would be a good idea" Giles carefully explained.

"What are you saying? What do you mean?" Buffy worriedly asked.

"Well you're not at full strength, you're vulnerable. And with Sunnydale being at the centre of a mystical convergence, there's a whole host of demons and vampires around that would take this opportunity to attempt to kill you. It's imperative that you keep your current condition a secret. There may also be a great number of demons who want to kill your child too." The watcher explained.

Buffy absorbed what he had just said and realisation hit her "You're right. I'm not able to defend myself as well...Id just get me and my baby hurt…or worse"

"It wouldn't be wise to go back to Sunnydale, but you can't stay here either." Giles said as he looked about the tiny dank apartment.  
"Huh?" Buffy queried.

"This place, it's…it's damp and depressing." He looked disdainfully around.

"You're right. I should get someplace nicer. I'll just go pop down to the bank of 'I wish' and take out enough money for a luxury beach house in Phoenix" Buffy said sarcastically.

Giles gave her an exasperated look and walked towards the window. "I'll give you the money. I'll give you whatever you need. You don't have to worry."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me." Buffy smiled at her watcher and then thought for a moment. "So what if this baby is some sort of mystical prophetic kid? I mean I want to return to Sunnydale after she's born, what are you saying? It's not safe for me ever to come back?"

Giles turned to look out the window again. "I think that you will be safe to come back after she's born"

"Uh Giles, hello? I'd have the baby with…" she trailed off, realising what he meant. "Wait….you don't…..No. No, Absolutely not. You can't be asking me that." She said as her voice began to crack.

He spun around to face her, much more serious than before "What did you expect was going to happen? Buffy you are the slayer, you spend your life fighting to save the world, how do you expect to raise a child in that environment? That would be hard enough except this is no normal child. Something very strange is going on. This baby's only chance of survival would be to give her up for adoption and give her to parents who don't know anything about her destiny. I imagine a lot of demons out there want to see her dead and if she's with you they will all know where to find her. If we send her away after she's born no one will ever know her whereabouts. That way she can even have the chance at a normal life. The kind of normal life you have always wanted for yourself. Are you going to deprive your child of that existence?"

Buffy began crying uncontrollably and slid onto the floor. When Giles saw this he realised he had been too hard on her. He knelt down beside her and held her as she cried loudly.

"There has to be another way. It has to work. Please, please it has to, find a way, Giles please!" she begged.

"I'm so sorry Buffy. I only want what's best for you" Giles was almost crying now and felt guilty for shouting at Buffy.

"Giles, this is the only part of Angel I have left. If you take it away, I'll die. Please don't do this to me" Buffy pleaded and cried.  
"There's no other way. I'm sorry. You know it's the right thing to do. It's the right thing for your baby." Giles said fighting back his own tears.

Buffy cried like she had never cried before and Giles' heart broke at the pain that this was causing her. He had to find out more. He hoped that for Buffy's sake he was wrong. He hoped that the baby wasn't supernatural at all and then everything would be ok. As he sat there holding her he vowed to do all in his power to make this right.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 6takes place between "Anne" & "Dead Mans Party"  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

Giles carried the small box and bag of Buffy's belongings into the new apartment. This one was much nicer and bigger than her last. Buffy walked around and tried to look happy. She really appreciated this and didn't want to seem like she was ungrateful, but she couldn't be happy right now. Not when she had to face the prospect of giving up her baby. 

Giles had made her to quit her job and lay low. He could see how hard this was for Buffy and hated himself for being the one that had to make her see sense. He hoped that one day she would forgive him.

"What do you think?" the watcher asked cautiously.  
"It's great, more than great. Thank you" she said sincerely trying to manage a smile.

"It's the least I could do. Besides, the watchers council will reimburse me for most of it." Giles said as he placed her things down in her new bedroom.

"They do that?" Buffy asked wide eyed.

"Yes, of course. Any costs incurred in the line of duty they promise to refund." Giles said.

"And you chose to tell me this now? I've ruined almost half of my wardrobe 'in the line of duty'! Boy, when I get back to Sunnydale I am gonna cash in on this, big time. There was this one time, when a demon guy slashed my genuine leather coat with a battle axe! That coat cost me $375! Ok, it cost my mom $375" Buffy complained.

"And do you really think that the watcher's council would deem such a garment suitable apparel for slaying purposes?" he raised his eyebrows disapprovingly.

"Well…no, but couldn't we just say I was caught off guard? Like I was on my way to one of my non slaying extra curricular activities when I was rudely attacked by a demon?" Buffy pleaded.

Giles sighed and took off his glasses to clean them. "I'll see what I can do"

"Yay!" Buffy exclaimed. "Besides, it's about time I got some form of payment out of this. Army guys get danger money. The least they could do is add a few more perks to the job."

"Yes well, clothing refunds aside, I think the Watchers Council will get a fright when they see this months bill, especially with the money it's costing me to have you privately tutored until your return to Sunnydale." Giles said, reminding Buffy of the impending doom that was her studies.

"Do I really have to? Giles, come on! Its bad enough I'm gonna have to stay in this apartment most of the time and now you want to bring school to me?" Buffy pouted, hoping she could get out of it.

"Don't look at me like that. It's not going to work. Besides it will give you something to do during the day" Giles tried to reason with her.

Buffy sat down on the sofa in a huff "Give me something to do? Haven't you heard of cable?"

Giles eyed her scornfully "Buffy, if you don't begin studying now you'll never catch up when you return. And then your only options will either be summer school or to repeat your senior year."

Buffy's eyes widened at the prospect and she gulped. "Private Tutoring is so the way forward."

"Well I'm glad we're in agreement. Now I best be on my way. I doubt Principal Snyder will be best pleased if I miss another day of work." Giles voice hardened at the thought of the evil dwarfed nazi-like principal.

"Do you really think my mom and the gang will believe your story?" Buffy asked worriedly as she struggled to stand up. She hated lying to her mother and friends but they both knew it was the most sensible thing to do.

"They'll just have to. Although your mother will hate me even more" He replied.

"She hates you?" Buffy asked inquisitively.

"She blames me for your disappearance." Giles stated trying not to sound too bitter.

"Well don't worry, when I get back I'll definitely set her straight" Buffy told him reassuringly.

She tried to look happy as she led him to the door. She knew he had her best interests at heart.

"Now remember, lay low, no going out after sundown and absolutely no slaying." Giles said firmly.

"I know, I know. I'm secret identity gal. I remember." Buffy rolled her eyes at her watcher.

"Good. Take care and I'll see you next weekend."

With that Giles left the apartment building and headed back to Sunnydale.  
He was nervous at the prospect of telling Buffy's mother and friends the story that the two of them had created. He wasn't sure how convincing he could be but hoped for all their sakes that they would believe him.

* * *

Willow limped down the hallway of Sunnydale High as Oz helped her along.  
"Ok, Oww…" Willow pouted.

"That's pretty much what I'm thinking too" Oz said.

The pair of them were nursing injuries from the previous nights slaying. Or rather the previous nights attempt at slaying. They made their way into the library where Xander and Cordelia were waiting for them.

"Willow, you look terrible." Cordelia exclaimed looking the red head up and down.

Xander stared at his girlfriend, annoyed but not really surprised. "And once again, your amazing ability to be sympathetic astounds me"

Cordelia glared back at him "I'm just saying. This is ridiculous. We can't go on doing this. It's Buffy's gig. She's the super hero."

"Well Buffy's not here. And somebody has to do it" Xander said becoming agitated at Cordelia's reluctance to help.

"Well not me. Not after last night. That was too close. We're lucky that Oz and Willow were only hurt. And I don't want to end up looking as bad as Willow tomorrow, so count me out." The brunette stated as she crossed her arms across her chest in defiance.

Xander tried his best to reason with her "If we don't do it, no one else will."

"And it's only til Buffy gets back which will probably be really soon" Willow interjected hopefully. Even she didn't really believe it, but she kept telling herself that Buffy would soon return. She missed her the most.

"And you're basing this on what exactly?" Cordelia hissed, annoyed at Willow's inability to be realistic.

"Well Giles has to find her eventually. He has to. He will" Willow spat back

"Will, I think he'll find her when she wants to be found." Xander said truthfully.

Oz wasn't too happy about the idea of them slaying again either. He didn't mind being hurt but he worried about Willow. "Umm, yeah. But Cordelia may have a point. We're not getting any better at the slaying and it's dangerous. We need Buffy"

"And she'll be back in a few weeks" Giles said calmly as he walked in through the library swing doors, just catching the end of their conversation.

"Giles!" Willow exclaimed excitedly. "Did you find her? Did you find Buffy?"

"Yes, yes, I did. She's safe" he smiled reassuringly as Willow hugged him.

"So where is she? And why isn't she coming back now?" Xander said not trying to hide the fact that he was upset with Buffy for leaving them in the lurch.

Four pairs of eyes fell on Giles waiting intently for his explanation.  
"Well, the watchers council contacted me a few weeks ago. They urgently needed Buffy in England, but I couldn't help them as none of us knew where she was.  
It wasn't until this morning that they finally decided to inform me that they had tracked her down themselves and taken her back to England. They allowed me to speak with her and she's fine, albeit a little annoyed at being taken to Britain."

Cordelia furrowed her brow and looked confused. "Why did they take her to England? Can't you just tell them we need her here? Like now?"

"She's there on top secret watcher council business. I have no idea what that means but when it comes to the council I've learned its best not to ask too many questions. All I know is its very important." Giles explained.

"But she's ok right? And she'll be back in a few weeks? For sure?" Willow asked, needing confirmation that her friend would soon return.

"Yes, about 3 or 4 weeks" Giles replied.

Xander stood up to leave the library "Well then it's settled. We'll keep up the slaying until she returns."

The Scooby gang all started to pick up their bags as the bell rang.  
"And I-I will help of course." Giles told them.

Willow smiled at everyone "See? Everything's gonna be fine. And In a few more weeks we'll have Buffy back!" she exclaimed as she bounced out the door, not caring about her hurt leg anymore.

Giles sighed inwardly. He was so relieved that they had bought his story. Now he just had to convince Buffy's mom that it was the truth.

* * *

Joyce paced up and down the length of the kitchen, not believing what she had just been told. "So you're saying they took my baby thousands of miles away without my permission?"

Giles tried to remain calm and collected. "Yes, I'm afraid they did. They're not really in the business of asking permission. As far as they are concerned Buffy is needed in England and that's the end of it"

"Well I am not taking this, its way out of line. Get me a phone number for this Quentin Travers. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind." She demanded.

"Joyce there's really no need. Besides he's unavailable at the moment. Trust me you won't get anywhere with them. They're extremely unreasonable."

The watcher was doing his best to satiate Joyce but she was extremely stubborn. Now he knew where Buffy got it from.

"And what about her studies! She's already missed the first two days of school and I don't even know if I can get her back into Sunnydale High!" the concerned mother argued.

"They're taking care of that. Buffy will be privately tutored in England. Trust me she'll be given the best of care." Giles gave her his most reassuring smile.

"Well she better be." Joyce said.

"I assure you she will be fine and it's only temporary. She'll be back before you know it."

Giles sipped his tea as he watched her expression. Luckily she seemed to buy it and would never have to know about her daughter being pregnant.

* * *

Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He had been researching for the last five hours and had found absolutely nothing. This was hopeless. He wasn't even sure where to look, he had been reading anything related to child orientated prophecies he could find but there was nothing about vampires or slayers at all.

Sitting back in his chair he took a moment to gather his thoughts. If he didn't find anything then maybe they were wrong. Maybe Buffy's baby would just be normal and he wouldn't have to make her give it up. He hoped that was the case but knew deep down that it was impossible.

Giles' thoughts were interrupted by footsteps coming down the hall. Willow and Oz came through the doors hand in hand.

"Giles! What are you doing here at this time?" Willow asked as she noticed the pile of books on the desk. "Is there research? Why didn't you call us? What's going on?" she asked becoming more concerned.

"Oh it's nothing, nothing to worry about." He replied quickly placing a bookmark into the page he was reading and closing the book shut. "What are you two doing here at this time?" He hadn't anticipated having company and didn't want Willow getting suspicious.

"It's the night before the full moon? I'm on Oz watch." She replied smiling as Oz began putting up towels around the enclosure.

"Oh, yes, I'd forgotten. Well there's really no need for you to stay Willow, I'll be here most of the night anyway. You should get some sleep" he said walking in between Willow and the desk.

Willow could sense that something was going on and she could tell that he was hiding something. Giles smiled as she suspiciously eyed the books on his desk. "If it's not important why are you gonna be researching all night. I can stay and help you, I'm not tired."

"No, no that won't be necessary. I've got it under control." He gave her the biggest smile he could manage in an attempt to convince her but she wasn't buying it.

The cage behind them rattled as Oz wolfed out, turned and threw himself against the door. "Giles why don't you go make sure the tranquilizer gun is loaded." She said, glaring at him.

Giles continued to smile for a moment before edging slowly away. "Of course. Won't be a moment" He rushed off into his office.

Willow immediately sat down and opened the book to the page Giles had been reading and began to scan the page "Prophecies foretelling the birth of warriors should often be interpreted in the metaphorical and not literal sense" she read. Willow was confused and desperately tried to think of why Giles would be interested in that sort of thing. She picked the book up to look at the front cover. As she did this she noticed a small address book underneath it. It was opened at a new page which said 'Buffy' and then gave a phone number and address. Willow scanned the information in bewilderment.

Giles returned to the room and noticed Willow eyeing his books. Before he had a chance to say anything the red head spun around to confront him.

"What's going on!" she demanded.

"hmm? Nothing. Nothings going on." He stammered unconvincingly.

"I'm not stupid Giles, this is Buffy's phone number and address isn't it? This says L.A. She's not in Britain at all is she. You lied to us!" she fumed trying not to let her voice crack with emotion. "Is Buffy in trouble!" she asked worriedly.

Giles sighed and slowly walked over to the table and took out a seat. He sat down and took off his glasses. "I'm afraid she may be." He said staring at the books in front of him, not being able to meet her gaze yet and her look of betrayal.

"Tell me what's going on. I have to know Giles. Either you tell me what's going on or I'm calling Buffy" she stated coolly.

* * *

Buffy was watching MTV when the phone rang. She knew it was Giles from the caller ID and picked up the phone. "Buffy the vampire slayer, how may I help you?" she joked.

"Buffy! You can't answer the phone like that!" he shouted.

"Relax Giles, I knew it was you from the caller ID" she said smiling at how flustered he had gotten.

"Oh…yes of course. I'm afraid I may have been a little hasty in assuming that everyone had believed our story." He said quietly, hoping she wouldn't be too mad.

"Oh no, not my mother, please not my mother." Buffy uttered, petrified at the thought.

"No, Willow. She knows something is wrong. She's here. She wants to talk to you." Giles said solemnly.

"Put her on. I know I can trust her." Buffy replied.

Giles handed the phone to Willow who was eager to talk to her best friend. "Buffy?"

"Hey Will" Buffy said, glad to hear the familiar voice.

"Buffy what's going on?" Willow asked tentatively.

"It's a long story. And I think you should sit down…"

* * *

An hour later Willow hung up the phone, totally amazed at what her best friend had told her. She stood up and walked out of the office to meet Giles who was busily researching.

She sat down beside him and stared at the table. "Wow. I mean, wow. That's a lot to take in. Poor Buffy. She really has to give the baby up?" she asked sadly.

Giles looked up at her and frowned. "I believe it's the only way. I take it Buffy warned you about how sensitive this is? You mustn't tell anyone, not even Xander" Giles told her gently.

"I know, I get it. It's ok I won't say anything. But I'm coming with you this weekend to see her." She told him.

"Good. I think Buffy will appreciate the company." He smiled warmly at her.

The pair researched all night desperately trying to find out more about Buffy's baby. They both knew it was going to be a very long night.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 7 takes place about two days after Chapter 6  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

The mausoleum was large and looked damp and dark. It was the perfect place to find a vampire nest. The three demons walked up to the building and slowly pushed open the heavy door. It creaked loudly alerting the occupants of their presence. 

Within a second they were greeted by a pack of growling vampires. "Hey, this place is ours, what do you want?" the vampire in charge shouted.

"Vampires, you're so predictable. We have some news we think you'll be interested in hearing." The demon said.

"What about?" the vampire hissed, not trusting the large demon before him.

"The slayer." The demon said smiling.

* * *

The radio played loudly in Buffy's apartment as she painted her nails. She was getting bored of doing nothing all day long and not being able to leave the house at night. Even though she enjoyed the break she was beginning to miss the slaying.

While she waited on her nails drying she made her way into the kitchen and carefully opened the freezer in search of ice cream. To her dismay the tub was empty. Buffy groaned and placed the tub in the bin. As she stood at the counter she wrapped her fingers on the surface while thinking. It was dark outside. "Surely it won't hurt to go out just this once…" she said to herself while eyeing the door.

With a smile on her face she threw on her jacket and picked up her keys. Giles would never find out.

* * *

"I don't understand, what are you saying?" the vampire asked, confused. The demons had explained what they had to do, but it didn't make sense.

The demon sighed in frustration. "The signs indicate that an ancient prophecy will soon come to pass. The slayer is about to give birth to the guardian. If we don't kill her before she comes into the world then the end of days will be averted and we will never take hold of this mortal realm. We must act now, together. We must put our differences aside and work together to find the slayer." He explained.

"Well she lives here in Sunnydale but I haven't seen her in months, nobody has. Guess she must be laying low if she's knocked up huh." The vampire informed them.

"Yes, we heard she lived here. We will begin our search tonight." The demon concluded.

"And what if we don't find her, then what?" another vamp spoke up.

"Then we will keep looking. We will not give up. Our numbers are great and if we join forces with vampires and other demons we will find her and we will kill her. The word is on the underground, demons and vampires everywhere around the world are looking for her. If we don't find her, someone else will. She can't escape."

* * *

Buffy slowly walked down the street taking in the fresh air. She closed her eyes as the cool night breeze washed over her. As she walked back to her apartment she was unaware of the vampire watching her from across the street.

Jason was at Hemery High with Buffy when he was turned and knew that she was the slayer. Having heard about the demon cult that were looking to kill her he decided to inform them instead of fighting her himself. While he thought he would have had a good chance at killing her, he didn't want to take the risk. Besides, they might let him drink her as a reward for finding her.

Smiling at the thought of this, he quietly followed her to her apartment and then made his way back to the demons lair.

* * *

"I'm bored. It's been half an hour already, when is this guy gonna wake up?" Cordelia whined as she sat cross legged on the ground beside the newly filled in grave.

Willow rolled her eyes as Xander sighed loudly. "Fine. Leave, at least we won't have to listen to you complaining" Xander shot back.

"Excuse me! Here I am trying to help you guys save the world or whatever and this is the thanks I get!" the feisty brunette retorted.

Willow and Oz walked around to the other side of the headstone while the couple argued.

"If they don't stop fighting with each other I might stake them instead!" Willow moaned.

"Well on the plus side, it's been a pretty slow night. At least they're providing us with some form of entertainment" Oz said to his girlfriend.

Willow smiled. "I wonder where Giles got to" she queried.

A rustle and the sound of a branch cracking suddenly came from the bushes behind them.

"Giles?" Willow called to the foliage.

Suddenly a large red skinned demon with armor jumped out from the bushes and attacked Willow and Oz. The red head screamed loudly, alerting Xander and Cordelia to what was going on. The demon swung his sword at Willow and Oz quickly grabbed her, pulling her out of the way. As the pair fell down to the group they were surrounded by vamps and more demons.

The vampires grabbed Xander and Cordy who quickly pushed their crosses at them. When they let go of them the couple began to back away in the direction of Oz and Willow who were just getting to their feet, both holding crosses of their own.

One of the red demons grabbed Cordelia by the neck and knocked Xander to the ground as he attempted to fight them off. The leader of the demons walked casually forward as Oz and Willow lifted Xander to his feet.

"Where is the slayer. We have no interest in you" he said to the gang.

"She's not here" Oz said

"Nonsense. You must know of her whereabouts. Tell us where we can find her or we kill the girl" the demon responded.

"Let her go!" Xander shouted as he rubbed his head.

"What he said! I don't even know Buffy!" Cordelia said as she wriggled in the demons arms.

The larger demon looked in the direction of the vampire he had spoke to earlier. "Is this true?" he said getting angry.

"The girls lying, these guys fight alongside her all the time" the vampire told him.

The demon turned his attention back to the Scooby gang. "Last chance. Tell us where she is" he demanded.

"No!" Willow said boldly.

"Very Well. Your bravery is futile. We have eyes everywhere. We will find her. And when we do we will kill her and the guardian of light. It is our destiny" he taunted.  
"Kill the girl" he then ordered.

Before the demon had a chance to kill Cordelia, Giles came out of nowhere in his car. He sped through the cemetery, knocking the leader demon down and came to a screeching halt in front of Willow, Xander and Oz. The demons and vampires were distracted and the red demon holding Cordelia loosened his grip in the chaos. Xander took the opportunity to drive his stake deep into the demons side. As the demon gasped in pain Cordelia ran towards Giles' car. The gang jumped in and Giles sped off as fast as he could.

"That was a close one" Oz commented when they were far away from the cemetery.

"Is anyone hurt?" Giles asked.

"No but your timing is impeccable G man" Xander said while rubbing the back of Cordy's neck.

"I was almost demon chow!" Cordelia exclaimed.

"What did they want?" Giles asked.

"They were after Buffy, and something about the guardian of light? I don't know" Xander recalled.

Willow and Giles exchanged worried glances. They had to be talking about the baby. At least now they had something solid to research.

Later that night Giles called Buffy and told her about the demons after her, making sure she was on her guard and not leaving the apartment.

* * *

The next evening, Mr. Campbell made his way down Buffy's street. He paused and checked the address on the piece of paper he had in his hand. Seeing that he had the right address he turned and walked into the apartment building on his right.

The history tutor slowly approached Buffy's door and raised his hand to knock. Before he had a chance to do this, two vampires grabbed him from either side, covered his mouth and dragged him away from the door.

* * *

Inside the apartment Buffy was washing some dishes and thinking to herself. The phone call the other night from Giles had shaken her. The demons he had told her about sounded like they meant business. She really couldn't take anymore chances like she had the night before by going out to the store after dark.

The biggest disappointment was that Giles had confirmed her baby was special. The demons that had attacked the Scooby gang were obviously after her baby, and that meant there was no way she could keep it. Especially since there were already demons and vampires after it. It was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done, but she loved her baby more than anything and if keeping it meant it would be killed then she had to do what was best for her baby and put her up for adoption.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock on the door. Buffy tossed the towel aside and made her way to the door. When she opened it, she was greeted by a smartly dressed man holding textbooks in his arm. He smiled warmly at her.

"Miss. Summers?" the man asked.

"Yeah, you're Mr. Campbell right?" Buffy smiled.

"Yes, may I come in?" he asked politely.

"Sure, come on in." Buffy gestured as she opened the door wider.

The man smiled at her again, "Thank you" he said as Buffy turned from the door and started walking towards the table.

"I'm not really very good at History so whatever you can teach me will be a huge help" she said as she turned around.

The man who was masquerading as her history tutor vamped out in front of her and stepped inside the apartment, holding the door open.

"Well, to be honest, the only thing I know about history, is that you're it." He said laughing.

Before Buffy had a chance to grab a stake five demons ran through the door and ran towards her. Buffy looked terrified and ran towards the other side of the apartment. There was no way she could take them all on. Two of them caught her before she had gone too far and swung her around. Buffy punched the first two and round house kicked the third, instantly cursing herself for trying such a move. The first two came back at her and she grabbed the first, using him as a weapon by hurling him towards the second. She grabbed the third and threw him out the window but two more came at her with their swords. One took a swing at her and cut her arm. As Buffy distractedly looked down at the deep cut on her arm, four demons grabbed her and dragged her into the next room. They pinned her down to the ground and held her there while another demon walked in with his sword.

"You can't escape now. This prophecy will never come to pass." The demon sneered as he drew his sword back, intending on driving it right through Buffy's stomach.

A split second before the sword came into contact with Buffy a blinding light came from within her and went into all of the demons present, including the vampire. Within seconds the demons were incinerated on the spot and the light disappeared.

Buffy lay on the floor in shock trying to get her breath back. There was a strong smell of smoke in the air and the apartment was covered in demon ashes. She could feel her baby kicking hard in her stomach. Buffy rolled onto her side and then pulled herself up. She stood there, looking at the apartment for a moment and then closed the door before making her way over to the phone.

* * *

"Are you sure he said the guardian of light?" Giles asked an exhausted Willow.

"Yes, I'm sure. He said he was going to kill Buffy and the guardian of light." Willow told him before going back to the book she was reading.

"I'm sure I've heard that before but I can't think where." Giles replied while flipping through a large volume.

"Ahh, here, these are the demons, yes?" Giles asked passing the book to Willow to show her the picture.

"That's them!" Willow said excitedly. "What do we know?" she asked.

"Not much I'm afraid. They're Romasch demons. Much more civilized and intelligent than others, hence the swords and armor. Apart from that we know nothing." Giles huffed.

The phone in Giles office rang and he got up to answer it.

"Hello?" he said answering it and sitting down.

"Giles. It's me" Buffy said sounding scared.

"Buffy? What's wrong? What happened" Giles asked anxiously as Willow joined him upon hearing Buffy's name.

"I was attacked in the apartment. It was the demons that you said were in Sunnydale, about 8 of them" Buffy told him.

"Good god. Are you alright? Where are they now" Giles asked.

"I'm fine. They're dead. All of them" Buffy replied.

Giles was amazed, "You killed them all? How did you manage that?" Giles said.

"I didn't kill them. The baby did." Buffy said seriously.

"What do you mean?" Giles asked, taking his glasses off.

"They had me surrounded, I was almost toast and then all of a sudden there was this light and they were all gone, burned on the spot." Buffy explained.

"How do you know it was the baby" Giles asked skeptically.

"The light came from within me, it had to be her" Buffy said, convinced.

"Well this is astounding, I wish we knew more about this, Willow and I are still researching but we've found nothing as of yet." He said apologetically.

"Giles, this means the baby can look after itself right? It has powers, it can defend itself." Buffy began.

"We don't know that for sure. It could have been anything that killed the demons" Giles replied.

"I'm sure Giles. But if this baby can defend itself, surely I don't have to put her up for adoption, right?"

"No one is invincible, Buffy. We don't have any concrete evidence about your baby's powers yet. I still strongly recommend that you put her up for adoption." Giles said gently.

Buffy was silent for a moment "Yeah, Ok" she said numbly.

"Speaking of which the woman from the adoption agency is coming to speak with you tomorrow afternoon" he continued.

"Ok, well I better go, it's been a really long day." Buffy said trying not to let Giles know that she was on the verge of tears.

"Yes, of course. You should get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow. Goodnight Buffy."

"Bye" the slayer said quietly before hanging up the phone.

Buffy got up from the couch and slowly walked through to her bedroom. She lay down on her bed and broke down crying. As her baby began to kick she cried even harder, rubbing a hand over her abdomen. She wished there was another way. If only there was.

Buffy cried and cried until she could cry no more. She drifted off to sleep sobbing with her legs as close to her chest as her bump would allow. As she lay there with a tear soaked face and one hand on her stomach she dreamed of Angel, that he was with her, holding her, and everything was ok. In the back of her mind she knew it was just a dream but she would have gave anything to stay in it forever.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 8 takes place in time of "Dead Mans Party"  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

Buffy and Willow sat curled up on the sofa in Buffy's apartment watching a cheesy horror film and eating popcorn. Both girls were enjoying each other's company as they hadn't seen each other in months. Willow knew that Buffy was depressed and thought the best thing to do was spend this Friday night in the way they used to, only this time without Xander. Willow felt guilty that he didn't know, it was the first time in her life she had had to lie to him. She told him that she was going to visit her cousin for the weekend and he had bought it. 

Buffy was grateful for the sense of normality that Willow had brought her. It was keeping her mind off Angel and the baby. She had missed Willow so much as she'd had no one to confide in for months about everything that was going on. At the time she thought she didn't need anyone, didn't want anyone to talk to but now she realised that she did.

"I missed this" Buffy said sincerely, turning to Willow.

"Me too. I missed you so much Buffy" Willow replied to her friend.

"I'm so sorry I ran away, I should have at least let you know where I was" Buffy said feeling guilty for her disappearance.

"No, It's ok Buffy, I get it. You had a lot to deal with. I'm sorry I couldn't cure Angel in time. If I had then maybe…" Willow said choking back tears.

"It's fine. It just wasn't meant to be. Angel is gone, I'm just gonna have to accept it." Buffy said as her eyes welled up with tears.

The two friends began to cry and hugged each other. "I'm so sorry you lost him Buffy" Willow said to her friend.

Buffy fought back the tears and pulled back.

"Ow" Buffy said and winced with the pain.

"What? What is it? Are you ok?" Willow asked worriedly.

"Oh I'm fine, it's just the baby is kicking me really hard" Buffy said as she shifted slightly.

"What's it feel like" Willow asked curiously.

"Well, its kinda sore, but…it's amazing." Buffy said smiling warmly. "It's hard to believe that this kid is mine and Angel's." she said as the smile left her face and tears welled up in her eyes again. As she wiped them away she tried to look happy again. "Here, give me your hand" Buffy said to her friend.

Buffy took Willow's hand and placed it where the baby was kicking. "Do you feel that?" Buffy asked.

Willow paused for a second before her eyes widened in shock "Yeah! I felt it! Oh! Hi Buffy's baby!" Willow laughed. The slayer smiled.

"So do you definitely have to give her up for adoption? Is there no other way?" Willow asked tentatively.

Buffy sighed, "I don't know. Giles seems convinced that if I keep her I'd be putting her in danger and he's probably right. Especially after what happened last week. I wish more than anything in the world that there was some other way but if I kept her and she was found and killed I'd never be able to live with myself. She's special. I want her to have a good chance in life, have a normal life. Or as normal as possible with whatever purpose it is she has to serve. Who knows, maybe I'll see her again in 16 sixteen years or whatever if I'm still alive." Buffy told her friend.

Willow looked sadly at Buffy "I wish there was something I could do" she said honestly.

Giles walked out of the kitchen with a cup of tea in his hand and sat down on one of the chairs.

"Hey Giles, how's the research going" the red head asked.

"Terrible. I've yet to find anything even remotely linked to you or your baby." Giles said miserably.

"We'll find something eventually, I know we will. Do you want me to help?" she asked.

"No, no, I'm fine. You two carry on watching your film, I'll be fine" he responded.

"Thanks Giles" Buffy said.

* * *

It was Sunday morning and Giles and Willow had spent the past two days at Buffy's apartment. Willow and Buffy had stayed up all night talking and Giles had continued researching all weekend.

As Buffy's eyes fluttered open she could see cartoons on the television, it was 6am. Willow lay snoozing at the other end of the couch. Buffy pulled herself into a sitting position and turned off the TV with the remote. As she got up to get a drink she felt a strange pain in her back. She wondered for a minute if this was a contraction but thought it was too early and shrugged it off.

Buffy went to lie down in her bed after she had had a drink and lay there for half an hour. The pains seemed to come every 10 minutes or so and last for about 40 seconds. She was now convinced that they were contractions and she was in labour. Rather than wake everyone up, she ran herself a hot bath and relaxed. She was excited but also scared, nervous and quite sad at the thought that she would be losing her baby sooner than she thought.

At 8.30am her contractions were a little more frequent and she decided to wake Willow up. Buffy sat down on the couch where her friend was sleeping and gently shook her arm.

"Will, Will, wake up" Buffy whispered.

"Don't trust them! The monkey's caught in the lamp!" Willow moaned in her sleep.

"Huh? Willow! Wake up!" Buffy said a little louder.

Willow gradually opened her eyes. "Hey Buffy, sorry, oh, when did it get light?" Willow asked drowsily.

"A while ago, Willow the baby's coming" Buffy said calmly.

"Hmm? WHAT?" Willow shouted, suddenly wide awake. "But-but how is that possible? You still have two weeks left" the red head argued.

"Try telling her that" Buffy said quietly, not wanting to wake Giles, but he was already wakening.

"Are you ok!" Willow asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, there's still a while to go yet though, do you want to come to the hospital with me? Or do you have to go home?" the slayer asked hesitantly.

"No! As long as I'm back by tonight it's fine, try and stop me coming with you! Just try and have the baby before 9pm" Willow joked.

Buffy smiled and hugged Willow. "I'm so glad you're here. I don't want to do this alone. I'm scared" Buffy admitted.

"Don't worry Buffy everything will be fine!" Willow reassured her.

Giles entered the living room and yawned.

"Giles! Buffy is having a baby" Willow said excitedly.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that" Giles said as he put his glasses on.

"I meant now!" Willow corrected.

"What? Oh, really? But I thought it was too early" Giles asked walking over to Buffy.

"Well she probably got bored just waiting around. Like mother like daughter huh" Buffy quipped with a look of sadness in her eyes.

"We should go to the hospital, are you ready? Do you have your bag?" he asked hurriedly.

"Giles relax, yes I'm ready but you two should have breakfast first. There's plenty of time." Buffy said.

"If you're sure?" Giles asked hesitantly.

"I'm way sure. Besides I hate hospitals, I want to spend as little time as possible there." She replied.

* * *

Hours later, Buffy sat, drenched in sweat on her hospital bed with Willow at her side, mopping her forehead.

"I can't do it, I can't do it Will" Buffy groaned exhaustedly.

"Yes you can! Don't say that! Of course you can" Willow vehemently corrected.

"I can see the head! Just one more push and you'll have your baby" the midwife coaxed.

Buffy had refused all pain medication and was finding it difficult to get through the last part of the birth. As she pushed with all her strength one last time her baby was born.

"It's a girl" the midwife said as she quickly handed the messy bundle to Buffy.

Buffy stared in awe at the baby girl she was holding and began to cry. "Hi baby" she said lovingly.

Willow was moved to tears by the sight before her and watched as her best friend was introduced to her daughter.

The midwife took the baby from Buffy. "We'll just get her cleaned up for you" she said as she carried the little girl away.

* * *

"Oh Buffy she's perfect!" Willow gushed as she sat beside her friend and the new baby a while later. They had both been cleaned up and the baby had been given a clean bill of health.

Buffy's baby was tiny since she was two weeks early and had a tiny crop of very fine dark hair. She had the cutest little button nose and deep chocolate brown eyes, just like her father.

"What are you gonna call her?" Willow asked gently.

Buffy smiled at her friend and then looked back at the baby in her arms. "Well, I figured since Angel was Irish that I should pick something Celtic. So I went with Breanna. It means strong and virtuous. Seemed to fit." Buffy explained sadly.

"Breanna…It's beautiful" Willow said smiling.

"Her adoptive parents will change it, but I figured I had to name her, right?" Buffy said as she began to cry.

"Oh Buffy" Willow said, placing her hand on her arm supportively.

There was a knock on the door and Giles entered the room.

"How are you feeling Buffy?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm just peachy" Buffy replied, not taking her eyes off her daughter.

"She's beautiful Buffy" he said sincerely as he walked round to the other side of the bed.

"Thank you" the slayer responded distantly.

"I'm afraid it's time" he eventually told her.

"What? Already?" Buffy asked, surprised as she held her baby tighter.

The door opened again and Mrs. Philips, the woman from the adoption agency entered the room.

"Hi Buffy, we met last week" the woman said smiling.

"No, no, it's too soon, not yet" Buffy argued.

The woman walked towards Buffy and smiled sadly "It's best if you don't get attached dear" she advised her, reaching for the baby.

Buffy turned away instantly "No, I said no. Please, just give me five minutes alone with her. Giles please" she said, turning to her watcher and pleading.

Giles and Mrs. Philips exchanged a look before slowly leaving the room. Willow was finding it unbearable to watch her friend in so much pain and got up to leave the room. She gave Buffy a hug and then closed the door behind her.

Buffy placed the baby down in front of her on the bed. She lay sleeping, the only movement from her was the hardly noticeable rise and fall of her tiny chest as she breathed steadily. Buffy clasped her hands in hers and the baby wrapped her fist around Buffy's fingers automatically.

"This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life" Buffy told the baby as tears freely flowed from her eyes. "Up until now the hardest thing I'd ever done was kill your father. I loved him more than anything, more than life itself. Just as much as I love you." She said sobbing, as she gently brushed her fingers over Breanna's cheek. "But I had to kill him to save the world, and now I have to give you up to save your life. I hope that's something you'll always know, that I did this because I love you so much. I wish that I could be selfish enough to keep you, but I'd do anything for you, I'd die for you." Buffy whispered, picking up the tiny bundle and wrapping her in her arms again.

"I wish your dad was here to see you. He'd be so proud. And he'd love you just as much as I love you." Buffy said, her voice cracking as she cried harder and kissed the baby on her forehead. "I'm so sorry I have to do this, I'm so sorry" Buffy said as she kissed the baby's cheek. "I'll think about you everyday. I'll never forget you, never." Buffy sobbed.

The door opened again and Mrs. Philips, Giles and Willow returned to the room. Mrs. Philips approached Buffy and once again reached out for the baby.

"I love you so much" Buffy said one last time and kissed her head before allowing Mrs. Philips to take the baby from her arms.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I love you" Buffy called as she watched the woman hurriedly exit the room with her baby. Breanna woke up and began crying for the first time. The baby's crying got louder and could be heard echoing down the hall. This made it even harder for Buffy and she jumped out of bed and tried to follow. "She needs me, my baby needs me" Buffy cried.

Willow held Buffy back and hugged her "No Buffy, it's ok, it's ok" Willow said crying with her friend. Buffy broke down and collapsed on the floor with Willow. The two friends rocked back and forth crying uncontrollably. Eventually, the baby's crying got distant and eventually dissipated as she was carried out of the building. Buffy sat crying with Willow for what seemed like an eternity as she mourned the loss of her baby girl, her heart truly broken.

* * *

Willow had to leave a few hours later but Buffy hadn't been discharged just yet. They wanted to keep her in until the next morning. The strange thing was that Buffy hadn't even protested. She hadn't spoken to anyone since that afternoon. Giles came back to visit her that night but she didn't seem in the mood for visitors.

Buffy lay on her side in her hospital bed, staring at the wall and clutching a pair of tiny scratch mittens that Breanna had worn briefly. She heard Giles enter the room but didn't move or say anything. He came to sit beside her and gently reached out to touch her arm but she flinched slightly and he pulled away.

"Buffy I'm so sorry" Giles said, feeling unbelievably guilty. Buffy didn't move and continued to stare straight ahead.

"I know how hard that was for you, but it was the right thing to do" he said softly. A single tear slid down Buffy's face as she clutched the mitten tighter.

"Buffy if there's anything I can do…" he began but it was no use. Buffy turned around so that her back was to him and closed her eyes tightly, trying to suppress her tears.

Giles realised she wanted to be left alone and got up to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow morning and I'll take you back to Sunnydale. Get some rest." He told her gently before leaving the room. Buffy once again began crying uncontrollably and sobbed herself to sleep.

* * *

The overjoyed couple drove home, delighted that they had a new member of their family.

"I still can't believe it!" Jess said as she smiled widely at her husband. "We still have to think of a name" she reminded him.

"How about we name her after your grandma, Elizabeth? Then she could be Eliza for short. Or Beth, or Lizzy?" Sean suggested.

"Yeah…I like Elizabeth, I think that would be really sweet to name her after my grandma. So it's settled then, Elizabeth?"

"Yeah, Elizabeth" Sean said smiling at his wife.

Jess turned around to check on the baby in the backseat. Breanna was fast asleep as they drove along the dark road.

"Do you think she's cold?" Jess asked, concerned.

"I don't know…I doubt it…how do we know, does she look cold?" Sean asked with uncertainty.

"I don't think so" Jess replied.

"We're probably worrying about nothing. Relax sweetie, she's fast asleep anyway" Sean reassured his wife.

As the couple continued to discuss plans for their new baby, Breanna woke up. The newborn slowly opened her eyes lazily and looked up through the window of the car. It was pitch black outside and they were driving down a small, tree lined country road. Breanna stared at the line of trees and seemed to focus on them hypnotically.

Suddenly, the tallest tree began to fall onto the road. The couple were so distracted with their conversation that neither one of them noticed the tree as it fell. The car drove into its path just in time to be caught under it. The front half of the vehicle was crushed under the weight of the old tree and Sean and Jess were killed instantly. Miraculously Breanna was unscathed and began to cry…

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 9 takes place the day after Chapter 8.  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

Willow lazily trudged into the library the next day at lunch and headed into Giles' office. The sun shined through the window and the glare of the light on the cabinet dazzled Willow as she pulled out the book that Giles had been going through. She had hardly slept the night before. Images of a broken Buffy haunted her subconscious and she felt hopeless for not being able to do anything to make it better. Helping Giles with his research seemed to be the only thing she could do. 

The watcher had told her that the book contained many ancient prophecies, but they were all in a very old language that Willow barely knew. She began to read through the prophecies looking out for words she knew like 'guardian' or 'slayer'. Finally, after a long search, she came across one that seemed to mention both of them and hurriedly started to work on translating the rest.

"Hows my favourite happy clam?" Xander said in a sing song voice as he entered the office.

Willow looked up and squinted her eyes against the light, frowning.

"Ok, make that not a happy clam. Whats up?" Xander asked as he took a seat across from Willow.

"Nothing. I'm fine. Just a little tired is all" Willow groggily replied, going back to her book.

"Oh I get it, have you been a naughty little Willow? Oz been keeping you up all night?" Xander teased.

"Hey man" Oz said coolly as he casually stepped into the office and walked behind Willow's chair.

Xander slumped down further in his seat as Willow gave him an exasperated look.

"What are you doing?" Oz inquired, scanning the book before Willow and rubbing her shoulder.

"Just research, it's a project of Giles' he's letting me help with. Nothing important" Willow lied, closing the book and smiling at her boyfriend.

"So where is the G man?" Xander asked.

"Oh, he went to pick Buffy up from the airport" Willow replied.

"Already? I thought she'd be a couple of weeks yet" Xander said, suddenly unsure if he was happy or not with his friends imminent return.

"I guess they sent her home early." Willow reasoned trying to smile. She was looking forward to Buffy's return but apprehensive all the same. She was worried about her friend's state of mind and desperately wanted everything to be back to normal. Willow only hoped that the gang made Buffy feel as welcome as possible.

* * *

Giles slowly walked down the antiseptic smelling corridor of the hospital. He was uneasy about seeing Buffy today as he felt that she blamed him for what had happened. He hoped that in time she would forgive him. As he entered the room he was surprised to see Buffy sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed and ready to go.

Buffy wanted to get out of the hospital as soon as possible now. She had got up early, had a shower and got dressed and had been waiting on Giles for the past hour.

"Finally, I thought you were never going to show, can we please go now?" Buffy exasperatedly said as she jumped off the bed and headed for the door.

"Buffy, good morning, yes-yes of course, are you sure you're ready to leave?" Giles asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm ready, willing and able, let's just get out of here ok?" Buffy pleaded.

Giles reached out and took Buffy's arms in his hands. "Buffy are you sure you're alright?" he asked sincerely, staring into her eyes, searching for some emotion.

"Giles, I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?" Buffy smiled.

The slayer couldn't bear to think of what had happened, she had pushed it to the back of her mind and felt the need to put on a front. If she didn't she would never get through the day.

Buffy walked past her watcher and began to walk down the hall leaving Giles to look on in concern. It wasn't healthy for Buffy to be acting so normal. He knew that she must have found this unbearably hard.

As the pair walked down the corridor they passed a happy couple leaving the hospital with their new baby. Buffy gulped as she saw this and desperately hoped she wouldn't cry. She had to stay strong.

The drive home was practically entirely in silence. Giles tried to make light conversation but Buffy would shrug off his every question with a one word answer. When they finally reached Revello Drive, Giles carried Buffy's bag for her and she cautiously knocked on the door.

Joyce was expecting Buffy as Giles had called to say that she was being sent back early. She leapt to her feet when she heard the knocking and quickly made her way to the door. Joyce paused for a second before opening it. Buffy didn't say a word as her estranged mother caught her gaze, but she was relieved when Joyce finally reached out and hugged her.

* * *

Later that night, Buffy went in search of her friends. She was looking forward to seeing them and getting back to normal. As she made her way to the Bronze she walked down an alley and heard a strange noise. Buffy was immediately in stealth mode and silently walked in the direction of the sound.

As she turned the corner she could see a man dressed in black, walking around suspiciously. Buffy crept up on him but accidentally stood on an empty soda can. The man spun around instantly and swung his stake at her but Buffy blocked the swing and took the stake from him effortlessly. It was Xander.

Xander was completely shocked to see her and stood there, glued to the spot, staring at his friend.

"Didn't anyone ever warn you about playing with pointy sticks? It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye." She playfully chastised a stunned Xander.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" Xander retorted trying to catch his breath.

He stared at her for a moment before managing a small smile "Jeez, Buff!"

Suddenly a vampire smashed his way out of a crate leaning against a wall and lunged at Xander and Buffy, knocking them all to the ground. Xander tried to tackle the vampire but ended up being knocked to the ground again. As Buffy fought the vampire she heard Cordelia's voice come over a radio that Xander had attached to his belt.

"Come in, Nighthawk! Everything okay?" the message said.

Buffy was taken aback "Nighthawk?" she asked incredulously.

Within moments the Scooby gang appeared, running round the corner to rescue Xander. Buffy looked on in astonishment as her friends grabbed the vampire and threw him up against a wall. Oz jumped in with a stake but was shoved to the ground by a roundhouse kick from the vampire. Cordelia was soon thrown in the same direction but luckily caught by Buffy as Willow was similarly tossed aside.

"Oh, hey, Buffy!" exclaimed an un-phased Cordelia.

Buffy quickly pushed her aside as the vampire approached. With one quick move she staked the vampire and looked over to her friends as the dust settled. The Scooby gang were lying, heaped on the ground fighting for breath, staring at their estranged friend.

"Hey, guys." Buffy greeted them, smiling meekly.

* * *

"I got in a few hours ago, but Giles took me to see my mom first." Buffy explained as she reached for her cappuccino.

The gang were sitting on the sofas in The Bronze, eager to hear of Buffy's summer activities and more recently her time in Britain.

"So how was she?" Willow asked her friend.

"She seems cool" Buffy answered staring into her coffee.

Oz sat next to Willow and placed a few cups on the table in front of them "Hey, so you're not wanted for murder anymore." He said in his trademark monosyllabic tone.

"Good. That was such a drag." The slayer replied honestly.

"So where were you? I mean before Britain?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, were you, like, living in a box, or what?" Cordelia tactlessly interrupted.

"Oh, you know It's a really long story" Buffy began, hoping to escape having to explain her time in LA.

"So skip the heartwarming stuff about kindly old people and saving the farm and get right to the dirt." Xander chirped in.

Willow could see the look of dread in Buffy's eyes and had to bail her out. "You know what, maybe we should give Buffy a chance to settle back in before we quiz her about her summer"

"What she said." Buffy retorted, giving Willow a look of relief.

Xander eyed Willow strangely for a second but quickly shrugged it off. "Fair enough. In fact, you can leave the slaying to us while you settle in. We got you covered." He reassured Buffy.

"I noticed. You guys seem down with the slayage, all tricked out with your walkies and everything." She said as she eyed Xander and Cordelia amusingly.

"Yeah, but the outfits suck. This whole Rambo thing is so over. I'm thinking more sporty, like Hilfiger maybe." Cordy said, grinning at the thought.

"Still, we were getting good. We dusted nine out of ten." Willow enthusiastically said.

Oz leaned in and whispered in Willow's ear "Six out of ten."

"Six out of ten." Willow corrected herself.

"Whatever, we were kicking a little undead booty." Xander said coolly as he munched on a bag of potato chips.

Buffy smiled at her friends warmly. "Well, thank you for the offer, but I think I just wanna get back to my normal routine. You know, school, slaying... kid's stuff. In fact, I'm jonesing for a little brainless fun. What are you doing tomorrow?" Buffy asked Xander.

Xander looked around nervously, trying to think of an excuse "Oh, I would, but, uh, I'm kind of tied up." He said smiling at Buffy while he patted Cordelia's knee.

Cordelia laughed at what Xander had just implied "You wish." She said as she swatted his hand away.

"Will?" Buffy asked smiling at her friend.

"Sure. I'm in." Willow replied brightly.

"So what are you gonna do about school? You did get kicked out…" Xander began.

"Yeah I know, but mom is making an appointment with His Ugliness. I know she can break him." Buffy said positively.

Soon life would be back to normal and she could put everything behind her. A new beginning.

* * *

Buffy's skin radiated with warmth as it soaked up the sunlight shining down upon her through the trees. She smiled and arched her neck back to watch a butterfly glide silently towards the sky. As she leaned backwards, two strong arms enveloped her and she rested against the warm muscular chest behind her.

Angel and Buffy sat together under a large oak tree, enjoying the proximity between them, both completely at peace.

"I wish we could do this forever" Buffy sighed as Angel planted a soft kiss on her neck.

"Things to do, battles to fight" Angel replied apologetically.

"We'll be ok though, right?" Buffy asked worriedly as she turned around to face him.

"We'll always be ok. Love is forever. This is how it's meant to be" he whispered into her ear reassuringly.

The two lovers both turned their heads simultaneously and looked at the white moses basket beside them. The baby inside gurgled as she looked up at her parents.

"Do you think she's ok?" Buffy asked in a concerned voice.

"She's ok, but she's lost. Don't worry, she'll find her way back" Angel replied as he watched his daughter begin to fall asleep.

"What about you? Will you find your way back?" Buffy asked anxiously.

"Always" Angel replied, stroking Buffy's arm.

Buffy closed her eyes and once again rested against Angel's chest.

The high pitched sound that suddenly entered Buffy's consciousness forced her eyes to open hastily. Angel and Breanna were gone and she was lying in her bed, in her room, at home.

Buffy quickly reached over and turned off her alarm clock before sitting up in bed and running her hands through her hair. As she glanced back at her bedside table she remembered what was inside her drawer. Leaning over, she pulled open the drawer and took out the claddagh ring that Angel had given her for her birthday. She stared at it for a moment before looking past it into the drawer and seeing the mitten that was her only reminder of Breanna. Buffy picked it up and lay back down in her bed. As she clutched the claddagh ring and the mitten, tears filled her eyes, threatening to fall. Buffy closed her eyes tightly, willing herself to go back to sleep. She hadn't understood the dream, but it had been so vivid and comforting. Eventually she forced herself back into a deep slumber in hopes of seeing both of them again.

* * *

"Buffy! You're up, finally, hurry up and get dressed, we have to leave in half an hour to see Principal Snyder" Joyce called as Buffy sleepily made her way into the kitchen.

"Sorry, guess I was just really tired" Buffy replied as she made her way over to the fridge to pour herself a glass of juice.

"Well while you were getting your beauty sleep, I had an idea" Joyce began. Buffy ignored her mother and simply stared into the refrigerator.

"What if I invited Willow and Mr. Giles and everybody over for dinner tomorrow night? Don't you think that would be nice?" Joyce said smiling.

Buffy closed the refrigerator and reached for a glass out of the cupboard.

"…Since I sort of already did, I was hoping for a yes" Joyce said cautiously.  
Buffy stopped what she was doing and turned towards her mother, giving a weak smile. "It'll be fun" she said before going back to her juice.

* * *

"Don't worry about school, honey. If we can't get you back into Sunnydale, maybe we can swing private school." Joyce told her daughter, trying to sound happy.

The meeting with Principal Snyder had gone less than great, the evil little man was refusing to let Buffy into school under any circumstances.

"Private school? You mean, like jackets and kilts? You want me to get field hockey knees?" Buffy whined.

"It's not that bad." Joyce tried to reason.

"What about home schooling? You know, it's not just for scary religious people anymore." Buffy said, desperately trying to find another option that didn't involve private school.

"We'll work something out. Okay?" her mother replied reassuringly. "Say hi to Willow?"

Buffy nodded and got out of the car, walking over towards the Espresso Pump.

Willow was waiting for her on a bench and quickly got to her feet when she saw Buffy coming.

"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed as her friend walked towards her.

Buffy stared at Willow and tried to smile. Seeing her best friend only reminded her of what had happened two days ago in LA. Giles and her were the only people that knew what had happened. Buffy could no longer push everything to the back of her mind and her eyes welled up with tears.

Willow saw this and her heart ached for her best friend. "Oh Buffy" she said as she reached out and hugged her friend. Buffy hugged her back and clung on to her desperately. After a moment she managed to compose herself and pulled back, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, it's just, you're the only one I can talk to, I can't get her out of my mind" Buffy sobbed.

"I'm so sorry Buffy" Willow said, her voice cracking as tears rolled down her face.

"No, I'm sorry, come on, lets get coffee, I'm buying" Buffy said trying to sound chirpy.

Once they had ordered their mochas they sat down together in a booth.

"So Principal Snyder won't let you back into school huh? For sure?" Willow said.

Buffy stirred her coffee and sighed. "I think the words he used were 'absolutely not'" she sadly replied. "But mom reckons he has to, so she's gonna talk to the Superintendent of Schools first, but if that doesn't work then its private school for Buffy"

"Oh no, but I'm sure it won't come to that" Willow tried to reassure.

"Hope not. I just feel like everything is going wrong. All I want is for my life to go back to normal but I can't get back into school, my mom is paranoid that I'm gonna skip town again any minute and the gang were acting weird around me last night. Present company excluded."

"Don't worry about them, they just don't understand, they don't know what happened…Xander just sort of feels like you abandoned us...but he'll get over it, he will" Willow replied unconvincingly.

Buffy looked at her friend and frowned before putting her hand to her forehead and closing her eyes. "I can't deal with all this right now, I really can't" she honestly replied, trying to keep it together.

"It'll be ok Buffy, it will." Willow said, not really sure of what to say. The red head looked down at her coffee and then back at Buffy. "I've been doing some research, about Breanna…and I may have found something…I thought you should know" she said quietly.

Buffy slowly looked up at her friend. "What did you find?" she asked eagerly.

"I don't know, It's some sort of prophecy…I think it's the one that the demon guy was talking about. Giles is trying to translate the rest. It's so old, it's in some ancient dialect, I-I couldn't figure it out." She tentatively said.

"Well did you understand any of it? I mean is it bad? Will she be ok?" Buffy asked impatiently.

"I don't know, but it's something about the end of days...I think. But Giles will figure it out, I know he will." Willow told her.

Buffy took a deep breath and backed down. "I had a dream about her last night. Her and Angel." she began sadly. "What if I did the wrong thing? What if I wasn't meant to give her away? What if it would have been ok?" she said panicking.

"I don't know, no one knows, Buffy. But hopefully we can figure out what her purpose is." Willow said miserably.

"Yeah, hopefully" Buffy replied as she stared blankly into her coffee. She desperately wanted to be back in the dream she had had that morning. Everything was so perfect – nothing like the hell she was living when she was awake.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 10 takes place the day after Chapter 9.  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

Giles had spent the last 24 hours working on the prophecy that Willow had found. They were certain this was what they had been looking for and he wasn't going to sleep until he figured out what it meant. He owed it to Buffy. He had almost finished translating the prophecy when he realized the time, Buffy's party had started. There was no way he could attend, not when he was this close to finishing the translation. 

Much to Willow and Giles' dismay, the Scooby gang had decided that Buffy's welcome home dinner should be a big party. Buffy was surprised when the Dingo's had shown up and realized that her friends really didn't want to talk to her in the one on one sense. Half the school invaded her house and Willow tried to comfort Buffy as Xander and Cordelia ignored her.

"I was just sort of hoping it would be…us, you know, and we could hang together, the gang" Buffy said to Willow over the loud music.

"I'm sorry Buffy, they just thought this would be a better idea" Willow tentatively said. "And you know, maybe a party is what you need anyway, to loosen up and…"

Before Willow could finish, a stoner bumped into Buffy, tipping his drink all over her dress in the process. "Ohhh! Hold that thought" Buffy said frowning.

As Buffy made her way into the kitchen to grab a towel she overheard her mother talking to her new annoying friend Pat. "Having Buffy home, I thought it was gonna make it all better, but in some ways, it's almost worse." Joyce admitted while playing with the shot glass in her hand.

Buffy slowly gulped as she backed away from the kitchen. This was the last straw. She turned on her heels and ran up the stairs to her bedroom. As she entered the room she grabbed the bag from under her bed and began throwing clothes in haphazardly. Willow had noticed her friend racing up to her room and decided to follow her.

"Buffy! What are you doing?" Willow said as she rushed over to her friend who was manically packing while crying hysterically.

"I don't know, I just, I can't be here" Buffy sobbed. Willow took her arm and sat with her on the bed.

"Buffy I don't think leaving is going to solve this. I know it's hard but…"

"No, you don't understand, these last few months have sucked beyond the telling of it. First I had to kill Angel, I loved him more than I'd ever loved anything, he was everything to me, and then I had to give up my baby! I only got to hold her for five minutes, Will. You have no idea how hard that was." Buffy said as she broke down.

"And then I had to come back here, where everything reminds me of Angel, and-and I've been expelled, and my friends don't wanna talk to me, and my mom wishes I'd never came back."

Willow hugged Buffy tightly as she wept into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry Buffy, I know it sucks but it will get better, I promise it will" she reassured her friend.

As the pair sat on the bed, Joyce walked by the room and noticed the half packed bag as she glanced in from the hallway. "What is this? Is this some sort of a joke?" she angrily demanded.

Buffy instantly pulled back from Willow and stood up to face her mother. "Mom, please, could you, could you just..."

"No, I can't just! Buffy, what is this? Were you going to run away again?" she demanded once more, refusing to leave.

"No, I wasn't…..I-I'm not sure." Buffy said as she placed her hand on her forehead.

Joyce was raging. "Well, you better get sure and explain yourself right away! If you think you can just take off any time you feel like..."

"Stop it! Please! I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing." Buffy said before running out of the room and heading downstairs. Willow and Joyce followed her hastily down the stairs and through the mob of people in the party.

"Don't you leave this house, young lady!" Joyce shouted threateningly.

Buffy couldn't deal with her mother at this point and kept on walking, determined to leave the house. Joyce eventually caught up with her as she walked through the front room.

"You know what? That's it. You and I are going to have a talk." She said, catching Buffy by the arm and spinning her around.

On seeing the commotion the Dingo's stopped playing and silence fell upon the previously deafening room. All eyes fell on Buffy and Joyce.

"Mom, please..." Buffy begged.

"You know what? I don't care. I don't care what your friends think of me, or you for that matter, because you put me through the wringer, Buffy. I mean it. And I've had schnapps. Do you have any idea what it's been like?" Joyce yelled as people began to leave the party.

"Mom, this isn't the time..." Buffy pleaded once more.

Willow looked around for Oz, worried. He came over and stood beside her as the red head frantically tried to think of anything that could help her friend at that moment.

"You can't imagine months of not knowing. Not knowing whether you're lying dead in a ditch somewhere or, I don't know, living it up..." Joyce continued.

Buffy had had enough of this and finally spoke up, interrupting her mom. "But you told me! You're the one who said I should go. You said if I leave this house, don't come back. You found out who I really was, and you couldn't deal. Don't you remember?" the slayer said, raising her voice.

"Buffy, you didn't give me time. You just dumped this thing on me and you expected me to get it. Well, guess what? Mom's not perfect, okay? I handled it badly. But that doesn't give you the right to punish me by running away." Joyce shot back.

"Punish you? I didn't do this to punish you!" Buffy retorted in disbelief.

Xander had finally had enough of this and needed to vent his own anger "Well, you did. You should've seen what you put her through." He shouted at his friend.

"Great. Thanks. Anybody else want to weigh in here? How about you by the dip?" she said sarcastically, motioning to nerdy Jonathon.

"No thanks. I'm good." He replied nervously.

Xander turned on Buffy once again. "You know, maybe you don't want to hear it, Buffy, but taking off like you did was incredibly selfish and stupid." He viciously stated.

"Xander! Back off!" Willow shouted angrily at her friend.

Xander turned round to Willow who was glaring at him. "What is your problem, Will? I'm only saying what we're all thinking. And don't pretend you weren't hurt by Buffy's disappearing act too" he yelled.

Before Willow had a chance to respond Buffy spoke up again. "Okay! Okay. I screwed up. I know this. But you have no idea! You have, you have no idea what happened to me or what I was feeling!" she said, trying to make them understand.

"Did you even try talking to anybody?" Xander shot back

"There was nothing that anybody could do. Okay? I just had to deal with this on my own." Buffy retorted.

"Yeah, and you see how well that one worked out. You can't just bury stuff, Buffy. It'll come right back up to get you." Xander said.

"As if I even could've gone to you, Xander. You made your feelings about Angel and I perfectly clear." Buffy replied bitterly.

"Look. I'm sorry that your honey was a demon, but most girls don't hop a Greyhound over boy troubles." Xander tactlessly threw back.

Willow had had enough of this argument and felt it time to step in. "Ok, just hang on a minute Xander, how do we know what happened to Buffy? We don't know what she's been through. I mean for all we know there could be circumstances that we know nothing about, maybe we shouldn't be so hasty to jump down her throat about it" she said forcefully.

"OK, That's just about enough, why are you sticking up for her?" Xander demanded of his friend.

"I'm not! Ok, I am, but she's my friend, and yours too!" Willow replied.

"Friend? Do friends disappear and not call or write to tell you where they are? Not in my book" he retorted.

"Ok, I'm gonna step in now, being referee guy" Oz coolly said as he walked between the two arguing friends.

The gang were distracted from their fight when Giles ran through the front door, slamming it behind them. "Buffy! I need to speak to you, it's urgent." He gushed as he walked over to the teary eyed slayer and took her arm, motioning for her to follow him.

"What's up? Do we have demon trouble?" Xander queried.

"No no, it's private" Giles responded as he led Buffy through to the dining room.

Willow knew exactly what was going on and watched as the two disappeared round the corner. She sat on the sofa with Oz, silently praying it would be good news and not bad. Xander and Cordy moved into the kitchen as the tension and awkward silence in the front room was too much to bear.

"What's going on Giles? Did you translate the prophecy?" Buffy asked when they were out of earshot.

"Yes, Buffy its good news, I was wrong, you should have kept your baby, I'm so sorry, but it's alright, you can still get her back" Giles quickly said smiling.

Buffy stared at him in shock as a smile came over her face. "Are you sure?" she responded in disbelief.

"Yes, here, read this" he said handing her a piece of paper. On it was the translated prophecy.

Buffy stared at the disheveled piece of paper in her hand and began to read it.

'A lasting bond will be forged between slayer and demon and they will stand as one, a force against all forces of evil From them a new life will come into the world to help in the battle to rid the earth of unholy creatures She will be called the Guardian of Light and together the three will be a force against evil. And at the end of days the guardian and her parents will be victorious over the darkness that plagues the world and bring light into the earthly dimension.'

As Buffy finished reading she stared at the sheet of paper in her hands for a moment. "This says Angel was supposed to be here. If this is all true then how come they let me kill him?" she queried.

"I don't know, the powers work in strange ways, it's possible that wherever Angel is, he will somehow find his way back" the watcher guessed.

Buffy was suddenly filled with a sense of determination as the realization that things may actually work began to sink in. She threw her arms around Giles and hugged him tightly "Thank you! Thank you so much"

Giles was relieved to finally be back on good terms with Buffy, and thrilled that she was so happy.

"We have to go find Breanna. If you drive me to LA I can call the adoption agency first thing in the morning, tell them I want her back."

"Of course, but d-don't you think you should tell your mother first, before you bring her back?" Giles reasoned.

Buffy's smile faded at the thought. "Oh…right. That. Ok, I should probably go have the 'you're a grandma' chat just now then." She said woefully. "Wish me luck".

As Buffy turned around to face the tension in the living room once more, and her mother, there was a knock on the door. Both Joyce and Buffy reached the door at the same time and exchanged an apprehensive look. Joyce then opened the door with Buffy by her side and stared in confusion at the badly dressed man before her.

Whistler locked eyes with Buffy as he took out the bundle of blankets from under his jacket. "Delivery for Buffy Summers" he said sarcastically.

Buffy stared wide eyed at the demon as he unraveled the bundle to reveal Breanna. Giles appeared behind Joyce and took his glasses off as he noticed who the demon was carrying.

"Whistler?" Buffy said in shock. Giles looked from Buffy to the demon as he realized this was the person Buffy had told him about.

"Good god." Giles said as he watched Whistler enter the house and hand Breanna to Buffy.

"What's going on? You know this man!" Joyce asked Buffy in bewilderment.

Buffy ignored her mother and didn't take her eyes off of the sleeping baby in her arms as she held her tightly, silently promising never to let her go again.

Willow looked up to see Buffy holding her baby and leapt to her feet, rushing to her friend's side. "Buffy! You got her back!" the red head said, amazed at what had happened.

"Who's baby is this?" Joyce asked more impatiently.

Buffy and Whistler continued to ignore Joyce as they moved through to the dining room with Giles and Willow. "The powers that be sent me to bring her back to you, they said not to worry, everything will work out and she has to stay with you" Whistler told Buffy.

"Did you hear that Buffy? She can stay!" Willow beamed as Buffy smiled brightly and began to cry, taking a seat at the table.

"And this is all to tie in with the prophecy? Breanna is the guardian?" Giles asked, needing confirmation.

"The one and only" Whistler responded.

On hearing the commotion, Xander and Cordy made their way through to the dining room and stood beside a very confused Oz. "Who's the kid?" Xander asked, puzzled.

"Ok, wait a minute here. Buffy I demand that you tell me what is going on!" Joyce shouted menacingly. Finally, Buffy and Giles took notice of her and were silent for a moment.

"Joyce, perhaps you should sit down" Giles suggested.

"No, I will not sit down, Buffy, who's baby is this?" Joyce exasperatedly demanded.

Buffy looked at her mother and then back at Breanna. "She's mine" Buffy said, staring at the tiny baby and smiling.

"Huh?" Xander said in bewilderment.

"Yours? Buffy, how can she be yours? When did you have a baby?" Joyce shrieked hysterically.

Buffy gulped and slowly met her mothers gaze. "Three days ago" she quietly responded.

"Oh no, no, I don't believe this, Buffy you're 17!" Joyce responded as she took a seat and put her head in her hands.

"Perhaps you and Buffy need time to talk alone" Giles tentatively said.

"Wait, you knew about this. You knew that my daughter was pregnant all along and you didn't tell me?" she yelled at the watcher.

"Mom, it wasn't like that, there were circumstances, No one was supposed to know, I had to put her up for adoption" Buffy said, defending Giles.

"Adoption? Then what happened to her adoptive parents?" Joyce asked incredulously.

Buffy and Giles both stared at Whistler for an answer.

"Oh, the powers that be sorta killed them." He replied casually.

"They're dead?" Giles asked astonished.

"Afraid so, the powers figured it was the easiest way. They don't have much compassion when it comes to matters as important as these" Whistler explained. "Well anyway, I better leave you guys to it" the demon said as he made is way to the door.

"Wait! What about Angel?" Buffy asked.

Whistler smiled. "They're still figuring it out. I'm not sure what's gonna happen, but you will see him again. Take care kid." With that, Whistler disappeared out of the door, leaving the gang to it.

"Angel, your insane ex-boyfriend Angel, is he the father!" Joyce asked in annoyance.

"Yes, but it's complicated" Buffy replied.

"Ok, time out here!" Xander shouted as he walked closer to Buffy. "You had a kid with Angel and Giles knew about it, and you didn't tell us?" he asked, trying to process all the information he had just heard.

"Xander, give Buffy a break, demons were after her and the baby, she didn't know what to do, Giles thought it would be best if you didn't know" Willow tried to explain.

Breanna was awoken by the shouting and began to cry.

"You knew about this? And you didn't tell me? Will, I thought you were my best friend." Xander said feeling hurt that he hadn't been told any of this.

"I'm sorry Xander, I couldn't tell you." Willow said feeling very guilty.

"Xander, it's not that I didn't want you to know, it's just that I couldn't tell anybody, and Willow sort of found out and I really needed her for support. I was going to tell you eventually." Buffy said, trying to make sure Xander didn't feel left out.

"Save it" Xander replied as he grabbed his jacket and headed out of the room. Cordelia watcher her boyfriend march briskly towards the door and began to slowly follow. "Congratulations" she whispered to Buffy almost insincerely before leaving.

"I can't believe this, my only daughter is a teenage mother, this is all your fault!" Joyce shouted at Giles.

"Me? Joyce the only thing I am guilty of is helping Buffy cope with the situation she found herself in. This child is the result of a mystical occurrence, it's been foretold for centuries, there was nothing anybody could do. It was meant to happen" Giles tried to explain to the distraught mother.

"Oh you can't really be serious. Are you honestly trying to shut me up with all this supernatural nonsense again?" she screamed.

Breanna's cries became more incessant as the arguing voices became louder. Buffy stood up and made her way to the stairs as her mother and watcher continued their argument. Willow followed Buffy and stopped when she reached Oz. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you either" she nervously said. Oz kissed her sweetly and smiled. "It's ok. I get it. Well, actually, I'm not sure I do. But I understand. You go be with Buffy." He said as he walked to the door. Willow hugged him and closed the door before following her friend up to her room and leaving Joyce and Giles alone to their fight. It was going to be a long night.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Breanna, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 11 takes place around the time of "Faith, Hope & Trick".  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

"Oh! And have you seen that cute little thing she does with her mouth when she yawns?" Willow gushed as she held Breanna. 

Buffy looked over and smiled at her friend while folding some of her baby's newly washed clothes. It had been a few days since she had got Breanna back and she was enjoying being at home looking after her.

"You're just too cute! I could eat you all up!" Willow cooed.

"So have you spoken to Xander yet?" Buffy cautiously enquired.

Willow's face fell as she turned her attention to her friend. "No. He won't answer my calls. So he hasn't spoken to you either?"

Buffy sadly shook her head "He's ignoring me. I get it though, why he felt left out. I just wish he would talk to us, give me a chance to explain."

"He's totally avoiding me in school too. And Giles! He hasn't been in the library all week. We've never fallen out for this long before. It's starting to really bother me. What if he never talks to us again?" Willow worriedly yelped.

"I'm sure he will. He'll come round eventually. He has to." Buffy reasoned.

"I guess. So how's your mom been taking it all?" Willow asked.

Buffy sighed and sat down on the bed with Willow. "She's coping. To be fair she didn't really have much time to get used to the idea, but she's been great. For the first two days she was really disappointed, but I think she's falling in love with Bree and now she's starting to enjoy being a grandma." Buffy told her smiling.

Joyce knocked on Buffy's door and walked in. "Did I hear that awful word again?" she joked.

"Sorry" Buffy said smiling and rolling her eyes.

"Hi, Mrs. Summers!" Willow said as she handed the baby back to Buffy.

"Hey Willow, Uh, Buffy if you can spare me some time we need to go pick out the wallpaper for the nursery. Oh and they're delivering the cot today." She said smiling.

"Sure. Will, you wanna come?" Buffy asked her.

"Yeah why not, I've got time" Willow said as she helped Buffy put Breanna in her car seat.

Joyce grabbed her jacket and keys and led the way down the stairs. "Oh and the gallery just called me back, they think they can manage without me for two weeks while we get into a new routine and after that I can work out some hours that allow me to stay at home during the day while you're at school." She told her daughter.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." Buffy said sincerely.

"Well it was either that or we hire a babysitter, you have to go back to school eventually." Joyce replied.

Buffy whined and reached for the door holding the baby carrier in one arm. When she opened it she was surprised to see Xander standing on the other side with a stuffed animal in his hand.

"Hey, check it out. It's the Buffster. And the mini Buffster." Xander stammered uneasily.

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed in shock.

"I just thought I'd stop by and check out the newest member of the Scooby gang. Make sure she's kosher." He joked smiling at Buffy.

Buffy smiled at her friend before putting down the baby carrier and hugging him tightly.

Willow looked on happily at the two reconciling friends before her. "Are you cool with me too?" she tentatively asked.

"How could I resist your Willowy charms?" Xander said, struggling for breath as he extended one arm to include Willow in the hug.

"Ok, oww" Xander eventually said and Buffy immediately pulled back.

"Oh! Sorry! I'm just so glad we're all ok again" she said.

Joyce smiled at the three friends and took her jacket off. "Why don't we put the wallpaper shopping on hold. You guys need time to catch up." She said before heading upstairs.

Willow, Xander and Buffy made their way through to the front room and sat down. Xander handed the stuffed animal to Buffy and smiled. "Aren't you gonna introduce us?" he joked.

Buffy smiled wryly and unfastened the baby seat, picking Breanna up. "Xander, meet Breanna, Breanna, meet your crazy Uncle Xander" she joked, holding out the baby to Xander. Xander immediately backed away, throwing up his arms. "Oh no, I don't do babies" he said worriedly.

"After everything we've been through you're scared of a baby?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"I'm not scared, they're just so fragile…ok yes, I'm scared" Xander admitted, ashamed.

Willow started to giggle at her friend. "It's ok Xander, I understand. I mean what if she drooled on you, or worse, hurt your finger by clenching it with her mighty grip!" she mocked.

Buffy tried hard not to laugh while Xander glared at Willow and took a deep breath. "OK, fine, hand her over" he said feigning confidence and bravado.

Xander held his arms out as Buffy carefully handed Breanna to him. "See? It's not scary at all." She said smiling.

Breanna opened her eyes and looked at the new face above her as Xander warily held her. "I think she likes me!" he said giddily.

"Of course she does! You're her crazy Uncle Xander!" Willow said grinning.

"I'm just irresistible that way" he retorted coolly. "And how has her gorgeous mommy been doing?" Xander cautiously asked.

"She's good. She's just not really looking forward to starting back at school." Buffy sighed as she sat back into the sofa.

"Do you even know if you're gonna be allowed back into Sunnydale?" Xander queried.

"Well Giles seems to think I will. Mom and I have an appointment with Snyder tomorrow." Buffy replied.

"And if you do get back in, what happens then? You really think you can cope with school, slaying and a baby?" Xander questioned.

Buffy frowned "Well it won't be easy, but I'll figure something out. Besides, I have my mom to help me, she's gonna be here during the day." She replied.

"Yeah but your mom can't protect her like you can, aren't there gonna be demons after her?" Xander concernedly asked.

"Well that's what Giles seemed to think, but according to Whistler everything will work out. Whatever that means." Buffy shrugged.

Breanna began to cry and Xander quickly stared at her, petrified. "I didn't do anything! I swear!" he ranted.

"Don't worry, she's probably just hungry." Buffy said, reaching for the baby.

"Oh right, I get it. So you should probably um, feed her now" Xander stammered.

Willow and Buffy both glared at Xander who was staring at Buffy. He didn't get the hint until Buffy cleared her throat loudly. "Oh, of course, sorry, so I should um, turn around" he once again stammered, laughing nervously at the same time.

With Xander facing the other way Buffy carefully hooked her baby on and began to breastfeed her. "Ok, I'm good, you can turn around now" she told him.

"Anyway, hopefully pretty soon my life will be back to normal. Or as normal as it usually gets." Buffy said.

"Well I for one can't wait to have you back at school. I can even help you get caught up!" Willow said, smiling brightly at the thought of playing teacher again.

"Yup, It'll be great to have the Buffster back" Xander said, fixated on Buffy's chest.

Willow and Buffy exchanged an exasperated look and rolled their eyes.

* * *

Buffy ran around the front room frantically gathering her school things together. She was going to be late for her first day back. Thankfully the meeting with Snyder had gone to plan and she was now officially a Sunnydale student once again. 

"Buffy, you're going to be late!" Joyce called as she rushed through from the kitchen. "Here, you forgot your lunch" she said, handing her daughter a brown paper bag.

"Thanks mom. OK, I've just fed Bree and she's asleep but she'll probably wake up in about an hour or so." Buffy gushed anxiously.

"It's OK Buffy, I got it" Joyce said trying to calm her daughter down.

"I've put a bottle of milk in the fridge and her diapers are in the nursery, oh and there's some spare pacifiers in the top drawer, is that everything?" she ranted.

"Buffy, I can do this you know. Stop worrying. We'll be fine" Joyce said smiling at her daughter.

Buffy smiled back hesitantly. "OK, sorry, and if anyone comes to the door, even if they look human…"

"Don't answer it unless I know who it is, I know the drill" Joyce replied, exhausted. She reached out and took Buffy by the arm, leading her over to the door. "Now I want you to go to school, stop worrying about your daughter and pay attention in all your classes. Go!" she said encouragingly as she pushed Buffy out of the front door.

"Bye Mom" Buffy called as she rushed down the path, not wanting to get a tardy on her first day back.

* * *

Buffy, Willow and Xander entered the library and Buffy looked around smiling. "It's good to be back." she sighed as she sat down on the table with her friends. 

Giles made his way out of the office when he heard them walk in. "Ahh, Buffy, good afternoon. How are you today?" he asked.

"I'm good" she replied.

"And how is Breanna?" Giles enquired.

"She's good also. But it was so weird leaving her with my mom this morning." Buffy told him honestly.

"Ahh, yes, well I trust she's in good hands." He responded sarcastically with a forced smile, showing his dislike of Joyce. Willow and Xander both exchanged humorous glances at his display.

The library doors swung open as Cordelia entered the room. "Well if it isn't little Miss. Talk-of-the-School." She said as she approached the gang.

Xander stood up to greet his girlfriend. "Since that's a role you aspire to I'm guessing you're jealous." He said and kissed her.

"Well yeah, but in a good way, like with good things to say" she replied.

"People are talking about Buffy in a bad way?" Willow asked worriedly.

"Duh! She's a freakin' teenage parent! At gym, I heard Aura tell the girls that Buffy skipped town 'cos her mom found out about her drug taking, then became a prostitute to fund her habit and ended up pregnant." Cordelia explained.

Buffy stared at Cordy, wide eyed in horror. "People actually think that?" she asked in disbelief.

"'Fraid so" Cordy replied apologetically.

Xander put his arm around a distraught Buffy. "Look on the bright side. At least now people won't be so curious about why you roam the streets of Sunnydale at night" he joked.

Buffy punched him hard on the arm and frowned. "It's not funny!" she retorted. Xander gripped his arm in pain. "Oww" he complained.

"Don't worry Buffy, I'm sure it will be fine. I bet by next week everyone will have forgotten all about it" Willow reassured her.

"Yeah right!" laughed Cordelia. Xander and Willow both gave her icy stares while Buffy continued to look on in horror. Cordelia looked around at their faces and was puzzled. "What?" She yelled.

"Great, and I thought that passing my make up tests was my biggest problem." Buffy said distraughtly. "Which by the way, I have my English test soon."

"Do you think you'll pass?" Willow asked.

"If they give credit for speaking it I may be in with a chance" Buffy replied meekly. She reached into her bag to retrieve the novel she had to read and came across a photo envelope.

"Oh! I almost forgot, I got Breanna's first photos developed!" Buffy said, instantly cheering up.

"Ooooh, baby pictures!" Cordy said as she sat next to Buffy to look at the photos.

"Giles, I want you to take a look at this." Buffy said, handing her watcher a photo of the back of Breanna's neck.

"What is it?" Giles asked as he took it from her.

"I was kinda hoping you could tell me" she replied smiling. "It's the weirdest little birth mark, but it looks like it could mean something" she said in a concerned voice.

"How strange" Giles responded as he took off his glasses and examined the photo closely. "It certainly looks like it's a symbol of some sort. I shall have to consult my books. Probably nothing to worry about though" he assured her smiling.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, I gotta go sit this test." She said as she gathered her things and made her way to the door. "Wish me luck" she called glumly as she pushed open the door and went to face her first exam.

* * *

That night, Willow and Oz sat on a loveseat in a corner of the Bronze making out. Xander and Cordy approached them arm in arm and set a tray of drinks down on the table. 

"Looks like it's just us four again then, huh" Xander eventually said, interrupting the kissing.

Willow looked up and reached for a drink. "Well I guess Buffy won't have as much time for a social life anymore. But she says she'll go on patrol later on tonight when she gets the chance. We can come with if we want to."

Oz looked up towards the entrance to the Bronze and nudged Willow on the arm. "Looks like we're gonna see her sooner than we think" he said, motioning towards Buffy who was making her way towards them. As the other kids in the Bronze noticed Buffy they all began to whisper to each other and stare.

"Buffy!" Xander called, surprised to see her. "What brings you here?" he said as she sat down beside him.

"Breanna was asleep and my mom figured I could use some kid time, besides, I deserve it!" she said smiling happily.

"Well it's good to see you so cheerful!" Willow said gladly.

"I have good reason to be. I passed my English makeup test and I'm hangin' with my friends. Hello my life, how I've missed you." She giddily replied.

Cordelia gazed at an energetically dancing couple in disgust. "Check out Slut-O-Rama and her Disco Dave" she said.

The gang followed her gaze and intently watched the spectacle in front of them.

"What was the last thing that guy danced to, K.C. and the Sunshine Band?"

Buffy watched suspiciously as the couple left the dance floor and exited the Bronze.  
"I don't think that guy thrives on sunshine." She said as she hurriedly got up from her seat and followed them.

The gang rushed outside and Xander handed Buffy a stake. As they headed in the direction of the pair, they were shocked by what they saw. The girl roundhouse kicked the vamp and began to lay into him. As he tumbled backwards she casually walked towards Buffy. "It's okay, I got it. You're, uh, Buffy, right?" the new girl asked.

The vampire attacked her from behind and she head butted him before turning to face Buffy once more. "I'm Faith" she said, introducing herself and then continued to fight the vamp.

The gang simply stared at the scene before them and followed her every move. Oz leaned in closer to Willow. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's a new Slayer in town." He guessed.

Faith dodged the vampire's next move and threw him into the fence. She quickly doubled back towards Buffy and grabbed the stake from her hand. "Can I borrow that?" she asked.

Before Buffy had a chance to respond Faith had dusted the vampire and walked towards her, handing her back the stake. "Thanks, B. Couldn't have done it without you." she said as she walked unceremoniously past the gang, ignoring their surprised and questioning looks.

Buffy stared in astonishment, unsure of what to say and watched the new slayer swiftly disappear back towards the Bronze.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Breanna, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 12 takes place around the time of "Faith, Hope & Trick".  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Constructive crit very welcome  
**RATING:** T

* * *

The gang were back sitting inside the Bronze listening to the new slayer's stories. Faith had just finished telling the Scoobies about her toughest kills and Xander was drooling at the sight of the newcomer. Willow and Oz listened intently to the girl who seemed to be the complete opposite of Buffy. Buffy herself wasn't sure what she thought about this new slayer and felt slightly intimidated by her.

Faith took a bite out of her muffin and looked over to Buffy. A mischievous smile played on her lips. "The vamps, though, they better get their asses to Defcon One,  
'cause you and I are gonna have fun, you know, Watcherless and fancy-free!" she said with a glint in her eye.

Cordelia laughed. "Well that excludes Buffy…twice" she said.

Buffy looked confused. "I'm neither….what do you mean by watcherless?" she queried.

Faith was puzzled "Didn't yours go to England, too?" she asked.

Buffy shook her head "Nope…was he supposed to?"

"Well, mine went to this retreat thing…hang on, what do you mean you're not fancy free?" Faith asked.

"Buffy has a baby!" Willow told her smiling.

Faith was taken aback. "You serious?" she asked in disbelief.

Buffy tried to half smile "Yeah, she's only a week old" she said.

Faith looked disappointed and was unsure of what to say. "Cute" she replied rather unconvincingly. "Didn't know this job actually had maternity leave" she said.

Buffy was hurt by her disapproval and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Well, actually she's part of some big prophecy thing so…" Buffy began.

"Yeah, yeah, her mother is a slayer, her father is a vamp, she's gonna save the world yadda yadda…so tell us more about you. Anymore stories?" Xander interrupted, mesmerized by Faith.

"You got down and dirty with a vamp? What was that like?" Faith quizzed Buffy, suddenly intrigued.

"Oh, um…let's not get sidetracked…you know we should probably report to Giles, my watcher, tomorrow and let him know you're in town." Buffy suggested.

"Sure, why not." Faith shrugged, taking another bite out of her muffin.

Buffy was taking an instant disliking to Faith and remained silent as she listened to the overzealous story telling before her, wishing she had never turned up in Sunnydale.

* * *

The music played softly in the background as Buffy and Angel slowly danced in the Bronze. Angel wrapped a strong arm around Buffy's waist and pulled her closer as she sighed.

"I miss you" she whispered into his cheek.

"I miss you too, more than you know" Angel replied as tears welled up in his eyes.

Buffy took her hand away from his chest and jumped back when she saw the blood dripping from it. Angel doubled over in pain as the blood started to pour from his chest wound. Cuts began forming all over his body and he screamed in agony.

"Buffy!" he shouted through the pain.

Buffy began crying and panicking and was glued to the spot in fear. "I don't know what to do! How can I help you? Angel tell me what to do!" she sobbed, becoming ever more hysterical.

Suddenly Angel caught fire and in seconds he was consumed by the flames, disappearing before her eyes.

Buffy immediately jolted awake, breathing heavily with tears streaming down her cheeks, unable to get the sound of Angel's screams out of her head. The sound of her baby's crying eventually brought her back to reality as she got up to fetch her from her crib. Breanna's face was red with tears when Buffy picked her up and cradled her. The baby quietly sobbed as Buffy took her back to her own bed and lay down with her. They both cried themselves slowly back to sleep and Buffy was consumed by dreams of Angel being tortured. She wished more than anything that he could be there with them both and hoped that it wouldn't be long before he was set free and returned to her.

* * *

Giles walked towards the table in the library and pushed his glasses back up into position as he turned to face the two slayers. "Well I must say, I think it's fortuitous that you've appeared here now, Faith" he said as he sat on the edge of the table.

"Yeah, you can help the Buffster out, take over while she's looking after Bree" Xander said, finding it hard not to stare at the new girl's chest.

Buffy frowned and tentatively spoke up. "Well, I'm sure I'll cope with everything just fine…"

Willow interrupted before she could finish. "…That way Buffy won't have to patrol anymore! And we can help you too, just like we used to help Buffy!" she said beaming.

Buffy's face fell as she witnessed the mutiny before her. "It's not like I'm never gonna slay again…"

"Well I think everything's worked out rather well. Faith can take over the slaying for just now, until she goes home" Giles said smiling.

Faith smiled back, not noticing Buffy's look. "Sounds good to me, I'm itching for a good slay. And this towns jumpin' with demons. I'll patrol tonight"

Buffy stood up from her seat and looked slightly annoyed. "Well actually I was gonna patrol tonight anyway so really it's no problem" she said, trying to reinforce her role as slayer of Sunnydale.

"Great, you can show me the ropes then. Fill me in on all the demon haunts, it'll be fun" Faith said excitedly.

"That's a wonderful idea, if the two of you meet here around 8ish I can provide Faith with all the weapons she'll need." Giles said as he reached for his tea.

"Ummm, can we make it a little later? I wanna try and put Bree down before heading out and I promised mom I'd be home for dinner" Buffy said.

There was silence as Willow looked pointedly between Buffy and Faith. Buffy finally realized what she was implying and looked up at Faith disconcertedly. "Umm, to which you're also invited, dinner, with us" Buffy told her reluctantly.

Faith grinned widely at the invite. "Dyin' to meet the fam. I'm in."

"Great! Hey Faith, you wanna hang with us while Buffy takes her make up test?" Willow asked eagerly.

"Say yes and, uh, bring your stories!" Xander chimed in as the trio left the library, leaving Buffy behind with Giles.

Buffy sighed and sat down defeated as she watched Faith walk off with her friends and her life.

Giles noticed her discontented look and sat down beside her at the table. "I get the impression you're not exactly happy about the help" he knowingly said.

"It's not that, well ok it is, it's just…I'm still the slayer. Just because I'm a mother doesn't change that." She sighed. "I mean sure, a little time off to spend with Bree would be great, but I just don't want her to take over"

Giles smiled at his charge and gave her a serious stare. "Buffy you'll always be the slayer, no matter what. Nothing can ever change that. Besides, you're the one the prophecy speaks about, not Faith, so you don't have to worry."

Buffy listened to Giles and was thankful for the perspective. "Thanks. You're right, I'm sorry, I guess I was just feeling a little threatened is all." She reasoned.

He smiled knowingly. "It's understandable. My advice to you now would be to take advantage of Faith's presence while you settle back into school. Besides, she may not be here for very long."

Buffy forced a tired smile and slumped back in her seat. "I know." She mumbled while staring ahead, her mind far away.

Giles intuitively knew that Faith wasn't the only thing bothering her. "Is there anything else on your mind? You seem rather preoccupied." he asked gently.

Buffy looked up at him, suddenly out of her reverie. "What? Oh, no, it's nothing." she said dismissively.

"Are you sure?" he pressed.

"Umm, I've just been thinking about Angel a lot…Giles, how long do you think it'll be before he comes back?" Buffy queried, her voice cracking as she voiced her fears.

Giles averted her gaze and stared at the desk for a moment. "I've honestly no idea. It could be weeks, it could be months, possibly even years. There's no way of knowing." He solemnly said. "The only thing we know for sure is that he will be here for the End of Days, whenever that is"

Buffy slowly gulped as tears formed in her eyes. "What if it's years? This is all my fault, it wasn't meant to be like this, Angel and I were supposed to be together. What if I've ruined it? Giles, I don't know if I can do this without him"

Giles looked her in the eye and touched her hand. "You have to, and you will. Sometimes we think we can't survive without someone but when we're forced with coping alone we surprise ourselves. But Buffy you mustn't blame yourself, you only did what you had to do" He answered knowingly.

"If I had just stopped him before he had begun the ritual he would still be here. Instead he's in hell, and I did that to him!" she cried through her tears.

Giles put his arm around Buffy and held her as she cried. "You can't go on thinking like that. What's done is done, you have to have hope that Angel will be sent back soon. Hope is what keeps us going, it's what keeps me going"

Buffy noticed the distant look in Giles' eyes and immediately felt bad for reminding him about Jenny. "How is she" the slayer quietly asked.

"Same as always, no change." He replied, his voice devoid of emotion as he once again averted her gaze.

It un-nerved Buffy to see him like that, he was meant to be the strong one. "I'm sorry" she whispered.

Giles stood up from his seat and desperately tried to change the subject. "Yes, well I don't want to keep you from your test, you should continue with your revision" he replied before disappearing into his office. Buffy watched him go and sat in silence for a minute, thinking about their situations before opening her book and putting her troubles to the back of her mind.

* * *

Buffy sat at the dinner table listening to her mother and Faith eagerly talk about slaying. As much as she knew Faith was there temporarily she couldn't help but resent her presence.

"So Faith, how long do you think you'll be here in Sunnydale?" Joyce asked her as she placed a glass of soda down in front of her.

"A few weeks, until my watcher gets back" she replied between gulping down her drink.

"Well I'm sure Buffy will be thrilled for the time off. Won't you sweetie?" Joyce said cheerily.

"Huh? Um, yeah of course." She said, faking a smile.

"Glad to help" Faith said through a mouthful of fries.

The sound of a baby crying was heard over the monitor on the table as Joyce got up to see to Breanna. "Sounds like someone is awake from her nap" she said as she switched off the monitor.

"No mom, it's cool, I got it, I'm done anyway" Buffy said as she jumped out of her seat and made her way to the stairs. She was desperate to get away from Faith for a while and wanted to see her baby.

Buffy hurriedly entered the dark nursery and picked up the sobbing bundle from the crib. "Hey baby" she cooed as she hugged her daughter close and sat down in the rocking chair by the window. Breanna stopped crying and looked up at her mother who was smiling down at her.

Buffy had only been back at school for two days and already she was missing Breanna terribly. As she fed her baby, she watched the full moon and thought about Angel. She silently prayed to whoever was listening that Angel would soon be brought back safely to her. As she prayed, a shooting star leapt across the sky.

Buffy changed Breanna and made her way downstairs with the now awake baby.

Faith and Joyce were laughing loudly in the front room as Faith recounted one of her famous stories. Buffy uneasily walked into the room with Breanna in her arms as Faith looked up at the baby.

"So this is the kid huh" she said, trying to sound excited.

"The one and only" Buffy quipped as she sat down opposite her mother and Faith.

"Buffy, Faith was just telling me some tall tales" Joyce said managing to stifle her laughter.

"She's got a lot of 'em" she replied whimsically.

"Oh Sweetie, why don't you let Faith hold Breanna?" Joyce suggested excitedly.

Faith immediately frowned at this idea. "Oh no, its cool, I'm no good with kids anyway" she explained.

Joyce got up from her seat and reached out her arms towards the baby. "Well in that case her grandmother would like to see her"

Buffy reluctantly allowed her mother to take the baby from her, reminding herself that she was lucky her mom had finally got used to the idea.

"Actually I was sort of keen to get going, you coming B?" Faith asked as she stood up and grabbed her jacket.

"Oh well, um, I wanted to wait 'til Bree had fallen asleep" Buffy explained.

"You go with Faith honey, it's fine, I got it" Joyce said smiling.

"Umm…ok then" Buffy said unwillingly as she kissed her baby on the head before walking towards the door and heading out into the night with the new slayer.

* * *

The air was cool and crisp and a chilling breeze rustled leaves outside the dark mansion. As the cold hair circulated through into the abandoned house, old charred embers of a once raging fire silently stirred.

Out of the deadly silence, a rumbling noise rose from the floor. A minute later a piercingly bright light enveloped the dark room as a portal opened above. A naked body fell from the portal and landed harshly on the cold marble floor. Beads of sweat glistened in the mystical light, as the perfectly toned body lay shivering.

Angel lifted his head and squinted his eyes through the light, unsure of where he was or what was happening…..

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

  
**TITLE: **Destiny's Child **  
AUTHOR: **sugarwater**  
E-MAIL: ** DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Breanna, all bow down to the mighty Joss**  
TIMELINE: **Begins mid Season 2  
**SPOILERS:** Probably just about everything  
**SYNOPSIS:** B/A! The Powers That Be have a surprise in store for Buffy and Angel. Btvs re-write – Angel doesn't leave. Whole lot of Fluff and little bit of Angst.  
**DISTRIBUTION:** Anywhere, if you want it, take it, just let me know!  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Very very long epic type story, Chapter 13 takes place around the time of "Beauty & The Beasts".  
**FEEDBACK:** Craved, oh please, please, please, REVIEW! Reviews make me write faster! ;-)  
**RATING:** T

* * *

"So Faith just lost it?" Willow asked as she idly kicked some leaves on the path.

"Totally lost it, she had a lot of issues to work out, but she got it together in the end" Buffy replied honestly while pushing Breanna's stroller through the park.

Xander furrowed his brow in confusion. "And now she has no watcher, right? So does this mean she's gonna be staying longer?"

"Giles said indefinitely. He's in charge of both of us now" Buffy answered as she sat down on the bench by their chosen picnic table.

Willow opened up the basket and began serving the food. "This is a good thing though, I mean you don't have to slay anymore right?" she queried.

"Not exactly, I'm still the slayer, nothing can change that. Faiths taken over most of the patrols but I've still been going out really late at night on occasion. I'm actually starting to miss it" she told them ironically.

"Yeah but you've got a lot more time to spend with Bree now" Xander said through a mouthful of apple.

Buffy rolled her eyes and looked over to her baby who was happily sucking her pacifier. "In theory? Yeah. In reality? No. I don't think my mom could do more active parenting if she tried." She responded disdainfully.

"I'm sure she's just trying to help" Willow suggested.

"And help I very much appreciate, but mom looks after her during the day, is it too much to ask that I'd like to take over when I get home? The only time I really see her is on weekends when my mom isn't around" Buffy whined.

"It could be worse, you're lucky that she's cool with the whole idea" Xander replied.

"I know, I know, I just wish she'd back off a little" Buffy sighed.

A group of kids nearby were playing baseball. Suddenly, one of the kids hit the ball way too hard in the wrong direction. It soared through the sky and was heading right for the picnic table. Buffy reached out and caught the ball just inches above Xander's lunch.

"Geez! Thanks Buff" Xander said gratefully.

"No problem" Buffy replied with a smile.

A twelve year old kid came running up to the group looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry! Can we have our ball back please?" he pleaded.

Buffy handed over the ball to the kid. "Sure, just be careful, k?" she asked.

The kid nodded and ran off.

"So anyway, as we were saying before we were rudely attacked by a flying baseball…" Xander joked.

"Your mum enjoys looking after Breanna. Lots of grandmas do that, Buffy it's only been two weeks, I'm sure things will settle down soon" Willow told her friend, trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah you're probably right." Buffy replied, slightly happier than before.

Xander downed the last of his drink and threw the can into a nearby trash can. "Do we have any more sodas in that basket?" he asked Buffy.

"Think so, hold on" she said as she reached under the table. As she did this, the baseball once again glided through the air, heading right towards them. This time it was heading for Breanna's stroller.

All of a sudden, the ball stopped in mid air, only inches above the baby's head. Xander and Willow both turned their heads when they saw the ball, both staring wide eyed as they watched it float.

"Uhhh…Buffy?" Xander said, not taking his eyes off the ball.

"Hang on, I got one!" Buffy replied as she pulled herself back up into a sitting position.

Willow continued to stare in awe. "Oh boy" she said in surprise.

Buffy put the can of coke down in front of Xander and looked between her two best friends. "What are we staring at?" she asked before following their gazes.

Breanna lay in her stroller waving her arms about happily while watching the floating ball. Buffy simply stared in amazement with her friends while viewing the display before them, not believing her eyes.

* * *

Giles frowned and sat down on the sofa. "Hang on, are you sure the ball hovered above her head?" he asked, needing clarification.

Xander was exasperated. "Yes! It was creepy, it just floated" he replied.

"What are you saying, that something, some other force stopped it?" Giles asked.

Buffy sighed loudly in frustration. "We're saying that Breanna stopped it. It was her, she floated it herself" she told him while pacing her front room with her baby in her arms.

"Are you absolutely certain?" the watcher asked again, dumfounded.

"Well maybe she could do it again, we could try holding something above her head and letting it go" Willow suggested.

"I don't want to hurt her" Buffy worriedly said.

"You won't! Here, we'll use her little stuffed rabbit" Willow explained while motioning Buffy to put Breanna down in her bassinet.

Buffy lay her down and the gang crowded round to watch. Willow handed Buffy the toy and she took it tentatively. Buffy hesitantly held the rabbit above Breanna's head for a few seconds before cautiously letting go. For a moment it began to fall and then stopped in mid air, twirling round. Breanna smiled happily as she floated her stuffed rabbit in mid air.

A huge grin broke out on Willows face as she was mesmerized by the baby's abilities. "Wow" she exclaimed.

"It's extraordinary!" Giles said in wonderment as he removed his glasses and leaned closer.

"Can I say I told you so?" Xander said indignantly.

"Thank you Xander" Giles replied dryly.

Buffy slowly reached out and took the rabbit from Breanna before turning round to face her watcher. "So what does this mean?" she asked in uncertainty.

"It means she has powers, she's not like other children, but then again we already knew that." He said with a smile.

"Well do you think that's it? Is that all she can do?" Buffy asked.

"It's very probable that in time more abilities will be revealed but I guess we'll just have to wait and see." He said with an element of excitement in his voice. "Anyway I must go or I'll miss visiting hours at the hospital." He said as he glanced at his watch.

"Well thanks for coming by" Buffy said honestly as she led him to the door.

"Will you be slaying tonight?" he asked.

"Negative, moms in LA buying art so I can't" Buffy explained.

"Alright, well I'll see you Monday" he said before leaving.

Willow jumped up and walked towards Buffy. "You know if you wanna go out I could baby-sit! I could stay over!" she said giddily.

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked.

Willow smiled brightly. "I'd love to!"

"Ok, cool" Buffy said happily, glad to have the opportunity to go out and slay again.

* * *

Willow and Buffy had enjoyed a girls' night in with Breanna and chilled out with some films and popcorn. It was now after midnight and Buffy had left both Willow and Breanna asleep in the house.

The slayer slowly shuffled through the graveyard, watching as the moonlight danced off the headstones while enjoying the way the midnight breeze caught the wisps of hair around her neck. Buffy thought she heard something nearby and felt a shiver go up her spine. She stood deadly still for a moment and listened for the tiniest of noises. Everything was silent again. Buffy continued on through the cemeteries and staked two vampires before heading towards the woods.

As she reached the clearing she was suddenly caught off guard as she was attacked from behind. Buffy flipped her assailant over her head with ease and threw his body to the ground.

The slayer froze as she saw the familiar face looking up at her through an aggressive, animalistic façade. Angel growled loudly and clenched his teeth before jumping to his feet and punching Buffy hard on the jaw. Still in shock, she allowed herself to be hit but quickly regained her composure and struck Angel hard across the face, causing him to slump to the ground, quietly growling.

Tears began to fall onto Buffy's cheeks as the situation sunk in. Angel was back. But there was something wrong with him, he wasn't himself, he didn't recognize her. Before she could figure out what was going on she knew what she had to do. At that moment he was acting like a monster and was probably a threat, she had to tie him up and she knew just the place.

Buffy lifted the shaking, semi-unconscious Angel from the ground and placed his arm around her neck. She dragged him to the mansion and locked him in Drusilla's shackles.

For the first time in a long time Buffy felt truly scared. She watched her lover as he lay on the stone cold floor of the mansion, shivering but still out of it from the blow to the head he had received. Buffy knelt down beside his glistening form and gently stroked his cheek lovingly as she cried. A minute later his eyes began to flutter open and he looked up towards her.

"Angel?" she whispered through her tears. For a moment there was silence and Buffy hoped he had recognized her but an instant later he jumped up and viciously hissed at her. Buffy jumped back quickly, almost knocked off her feet by his defense. He locked his gaze with her and Buffy looked deep into his eyes to search for some shred of love. All she could see was hostility. As Buffy realized this she turned and fled from the mansion, too distraught to look back.

* * *

Giles was surprised when he heard the knocking on his door early the next day and slowly opened it. A tired looking Buffy was standing on the other side with Breanna sleeping in her baby carrier that Buffy was wearing.

"Buffy, good morning, is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Buffy shifted uncomfortably and walked past him into the house. "We were just passing by your house and thought we'd come say hello" she said unconvincingly.

"Ahh, I see, and since when do you walk past my house so early on a Sunday morning?" he enquired.

Buffy looked worried and sat down on the sofa. "I just wanted to ask you some stuff" she nervously began.

"About what?" Giles asked as he sat down opposite the slayer.

"I've just been thinking, about Angel, and Acathla" she slowly explained.

"Yes…" he said, motioning for her to continue.

"Well it's just, Acathla was going to suck the world into hell, but instead he took Angel…so this means that Angel's in hell right?" Buffy asked.

Giles sighed and met her gaze. "It would seem so, yes"

Buffy nervously played with her fingers "And time moves a lot faster there, right? So when he comes back, he'll have been there for thousands of years…" she said.

Giles cleaned his glasses tensely "I'm afraid so" he quietly said, knowing exactly where this was going.

Buffy gradually looked Giles in the eye and gulped. "What will he be like?" she finally asked outright.

Giles looked past Buffy for a moment, recalling his research. "Well from what I've heard, he would be animal like, a monster, devoid of all human emotion, all human feeling. He wouldn't be the person you once knew. To be honest, this is something that's been bothering me" he uneasily told her.

"How long" Buffy quickly said, holding back tears. "How long would it be until he got better"

Giles looked unsure for a moment. "A very long time, if ever. It would take a person of immense strength and willpower to return to their former self after such an ordeal."

Buffy looked away, trying to hide her anguish and quickly wiped a tear from her eye. "Ok, thanks, I just needed to know" she said as she got up from the seat and began to walk towards the door.

Giles jumped up and followed her. "But Buffy I'm sure it will be fine, remember the powers that be need Angel, they won't let him be a lost cause" he explained, trying to console her.

Buffy turned around to face him, her hands shaking. "Big prophecy, I got it" she said as she reached for the door handle.

"Why don't you stay a little longer, I'll put the kettle on" Giles suggested, clearly worried about Buffy.

"No thanks, I really have to go" she said as she wiped a few more stray tears from her cheeks.

"Buffy are you alright?" Giles worriedly asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you later k?" she said as she disappeared down the path, leaving Giles watching her go, wondering if there was something she wasn't telling him.

* * *

That night, Buffy cautiously entered the mansion and pulled back the curtain. Angel was lying on the marble floor, a low growling emanating from the ground. He spun around when he heard her and leapt forward, hissing loudly as he dangled from his chains. Buffy remained still and composed herself before carefully walking over to the wall opposite the fireplace and sitting on the floor watching him.

Buffy sat for hours with him, keeping a watchful eye, looking for some sign of recognition. Eventually he calmed down and lay on the floor once again. Buffy inched closer as he rested and began to talk to him.

"Angel?" she said through her tears. "Do you know who I am?" she desperately asked.

Angel did not respond or even flinch. Buffy moved a little closer and spoke to him again.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry that I did this to you." She began, her voice cracking. "I haven't been able to live with myself." She cried with tears flowing freely down her cheeks and onto the marble floor.

"But I've hoped and prayed every day that you would come back to me, because I can't live without you. Angel, I don't want to live without you. You have to be strong, not just for me, but for our baby. You have a daughter, and she's the most amazing thing you've ever seen." Buffy sobbed, her body shaking from the crying.

"I love you so much, Angel. I love you so much, it hurts so bad that I wish it would stop. I've been through so much and I've waited so long for you to come back to me." she cried, moving even closer.

"There must be some part of you that remembers me, some part of you that still loves me. We can get through this, you can get better, just please Angel, let me in" she wept, her eyes red with tears.

"I need you, I can't do this without you" she told his still form. Buffy glanced over to the curtain and noticed a tiny beam of light creeping through, it was morning and she had to go.

Buffy leaned forward and gently kissed Angel on the cheek. "I love you" she whispered softly before pulling herself to her feet and slowly walking towards the exit, emotionally drained.

"Buffy?" Angel's voice called out from behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks and spun around. Angel was lying on the floor looking towards her with pleading eyes.

"Angel!" she breathed as the feeling of relief washed over her. She ran back to him as fast as she could and threw her arms around him. Angel held onto Buffy tightly and cried in her lap as she kissed his head and hugged him close.

Buffy knew then that Angel was going to get better and silently thanked whoever was listening for returning him to her.

* * *

The monotonous beep of the heart monitor was the only noise in the otherwise deadly silent room. There was no light except the dull rays from the hall that peeped through the blinds. Jenny lay still on the bed, her chest steadily moving up and down with every shallow breath. The clicking of heels on a cold hospital floor could be heard in the distance coming closer.

A minute later the door swung open and a small nurse breezed in. She changed the bag on the drip and began scribbling down notes on a chart before hurriedly leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

The room was silent again. A minute later the sound of the heart monitor seemed to quicken as Jenny's heart beat faster. In her mind Jenny was dreaming of her encounter with Angel and was reliving it over again.

_"Oh goody, it's the watcher. Two for the price of one. And guess what, you get to watch your girl here die!"_ she recalled Angel viciously sneering. A finger flinched as she reenacted the moment in her head, her heart rate becoming faster.

In her dream Angel sent Giles flying across the landing maliciously and laughed. _"Sorry Jenny, I'm going to have to get rid of you quick, watcher boys gonna be way more fun. Hey Watcher, watch this!"_. Angel taunted in her dream.

A moment later she felt Angel once again thrust her violently through the window and drop her to the ground. As she hit the ground she gasped loudly and her eyes flew open. She could hear the monitor beeping incessantly and began to panic. She was awake.

* * *


End file.
